


Beneath the Milky Way

by sweetfire



Category: SKAM (Norway)
Genre: Accidental Exhibitionism, Barebacking, Cuddling & Snuggling, Goodbyes, Idiots in Love, Isak is loud, Kissing in the Rain, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Moving In Together, Outdoor Sex, Overthinking, Pining, Rimming, Smut, Sort Of, and all that good stuff, because in this house we support cliches, but can you blame him, campfire tales, flustered isak, implied Eva/Jonas, isak's a grumpy shit, sexy mountain man even, shenanigans with the gang, who deserves love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 08:04:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21176132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetfire/pseuds/sweetfire
Summary: Isak pictured someone rugged, broad, probably with a beard and probably wearing flannel.What he glimpsed instead, peering over Jonas’s shoulder as the door to the back room swung open, was a swoop of blond hair, soulful blue eyes, and smooth skin, all attached to probably the most ethereally beautiful boy he’d ever seen. It was all Isak could do to keep himself from gaping as this boy – well, man – strode confidently to stand in front of their little half-circle and greeted them with an easy grin.“Halla! My name’s Even, and I’ll be your guide this week.”\\Isak is looking forward to a trip into the Norwegian wilderness with his friends before they all start their post-Nissen lives, hoping to get in some relaxation and bonding time with them. Cue Even, their hot wilderness guide, who instantly turns Isak into a flustered, blushing mess.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there folks! This is my first Skam fic, and since I've read about a million of them I'm glad to be contributing something of my own. I have this fic about 95% written at this point, so I'm hoping to be able to post pretty consistently. There will be 6 chapters and an epilogue. One note- I did some light research regarding Norwegian National parks, since this takes place in one, but I mostly just used my imagination so if you've actually been to the places I'm describing, I'm probably not being totally accurate. 
> 
> Anyway, here's the first chapter, featuring Isak being a grumpy boi, Even being hot and charming, and the gang being chaotic, ending with an unfortunate discovery. Enjoy!

There weren’t many things worse, in Isak’s estimation, than being stuck listening to shitty pop music, in a minivan stuffed with five people, for three hours.

He cursed himself for probably the twentieth time this drive for forgetting to bring his headphones when Magnus and Eva started harmonizing, badly and at the top of their lungs, to the latest party tune. Probably Gabrielle or some shit. Jonas caught Isak’s eye in the rearview mirror from where he was driving, easily reading his exasperated expression as he leaned his head against the window.

“Hey, cheer up grumpy,” Jonas teased fondly, eyes now back on the slightly wet road ahead of them. “We’re going on a fun wilderness adventure. You’re supposed to be excited.”

Isak added a scoff to his eyeroll since Jonas was no longer looking at him, just to ensure the point got across.

“That’s easy for you to say; you’re not stuck back here with these buffoons.”

“Hey, you can’t complain,” Mahdi said, stuffing doritos in his mouth. “At least you’re not in the middle seat. Here I am, providing a buffer between you and this fucker,” he ranted, nodding towards Magnus headbanging obliviously on his other side, “getting squished on both sides, and what thanks do I get? You call me a buffoon?” Mahdi shook his head and clicked his tongue in disapproval.

Isak groaned but couldn’t help laughing, burying his face in the back of Eva’s seat.

“Ugh. Eva, save me,” he whined. She twisted in her seat to look back at him through the gap under her headrest, where he was giving her puppy eyes and blinking pathetically.

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’ and still wiggling her shoulders in time with the music. “What you need is to join in the fun.” She stuck her finger through and booped Isak on the nose, for which he gave her an affronted glare.

“Just out of curiosity, how much longer ‘till we get there?” he asked.

Jonas glanced at the GPS. “Uh, about 45 minutes it looks like.”

Isak hummed in acknowledgement and sat back, relaxing in his seat as the music was blessedly turned down a little. He stared out the window, tuning out the chattering noise of Magnus and Mahdi arguing to watch the blur of pine trees passing by. It was overcast and damp, the sky a light grey background against the deep green forest, but still beautiful.

He _was_ looking forward to the trip, honestly, and especially the opportunity to spend time with his friends, even if he might not seem it at the moment. Now that they’d graduated, it wouldn’t be long before they were all heading to university or starting jobs or travelling on gap years. By some luck, most of Isak’s close friends were remaining in or near Oslo, so it wasn’t like they wouldn’t see each other anymore, but he knew they’d all be busy with their new lives. This camping trip had been in the works since before graduation, meant to be both a celebration and a chance to take advantage of their last free summer together while they could.

By the time they rolled up the narrow road to the entrance of Femundsmarka National Park, it was early afternoon. Everyone was a little drowsy from the long drive when they parked at the visitor center and all crawled out of the car, stretching.

“Alright, look alive people, let’s unload the car,” Jonas said, opening the trunk.

They each grabbed a couple of bags and hoisted them out of the car, all shuffling to the entrance of the log-sided building. When they were inside, they took over a corner of the pleasant lobby with their pile of stuff while Jonas went to check them in. Magnus and Mahdi were instantly distracted by the children’s nature exhibit and ran over, excitedly chattering about how badass the huge taxidermy brown bear was, frozen in a menacing snarl. Eva was knelt down rummaging in one of the backpacks, putting her jacket away and rearranging things for better access. She looked up to see Isak watching their friends with a look of judgmental bemusement and smirked at him fondly.

“Don’t look so sour, Isak,” she chided, and he, predictably, rolled his eyes.

“Ugh, how am I going to survive five days in the woods with those two actual children?” he complained, throwing his head back dramatically, but there was no real bite to it.

“You know you love it,” Eva singsong-ed, getting up. “They keep us young,” she said in English, patting Isak’s shoulder and heading over to Jonas, leaving Isak alone with their junk. He sighed, knowing she was right, and pulled out his phone to check it before he would be without service for the next few days.

“Guys!” Jonas called a minute later, waving them over. “Our guide is gonna meet us out here and then we’ll go over some stuff for the trip before dinner.”

They all gathered in something resembling a semi-circle, beginning to buzz with excitement as they waited for the wilderness guide who would be leading them on their excursion into the park. Isak was careful to maintain his mask of slightly grumpy indifference – he had a reputation to uphold, after all – but he was actually a bit intrigued in spite of himself about who they’d been spending the next few days in the care of. Isak pictured someone rugged, broad, probably with a beard and probably wearing flannel.

What he glimpsed instead, peering over Jonas’s shoulder as the door to the back room swung open, was a swoop of blond hair, soulful blue eyes, and smooth skin, all attached to probably the most ethereally beautiful boy he’d ever seen. It was all Isak could do to keep himself from gaping as this boy – well, man – strode confidently to stand in front of their little half-circle and greeted them with an easy grin.

“Halla! My name’s Even, and I’ll be your guide this week.”

Shit. Even his voice was gorgeous.

The group mumbled a chorus of ‘hello Even’s like a class of schoolchildren, and Isak pinched himself, willing his body, brain, soul – _whatever_ – to snap out of it and not make a fool out of him.

“Why don’t we all introduce ourselves and then we can get down to business?”

Mahdi piped up first, introducing himself as “Mahdi, the coolest of these clowns,” Jonas followed, then Eva, and then Isak’s plan to maintain his carefully cultivated cool evaporated instantly as Even’s gaze landed on him. His smile was soft and encouraging and his eyes were intense and _so goddamn blue_ and Isak felt his traitorous cheeks heat up immediately just from being _looked at _by this man.

It took a moment, but he was able to gather himself enough to say his name without sounding completely flustered.

Even nodded and his smile grew wider, almost with a hint of a smirk. “Isak. Nice to meet you,” he said, and Isak swore his eyes literally sparkled. Immediately, Isak lost any progress he had made in de-flustering himself, and he nearly breathed a sigh of relief when Even looked back to the group.

“So, everyone, you can go ahead and follow me to our conference room where I’ve got a little presentation for you about what to expect, and of course, safety.”

Even turned on his heel and headed towards a glass-walled room and they all shuffled along after him, Isak ending up at the back of the group while Magnus appeared to be trailing at Even’s heels like a puppy. Maybe Isak hadn’t been the only one affected, he thought with a chuckle.

Eva dropped back slightly and turned to Isak with a look he already didn’t like, and leaned in to him with a gleeful grin.

“Damn, those were some hot vibes between you two just then!” she whispered conspiratorially, wiggling her eyebrows.

Isak glared and hushed her, looking ahead of them to make sure Even hadn’t heard.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he hissed in protest, but upon Eva’s disbelieving stare, he gave up, sighing and shrugging his shoulders.

“Okay yeah, maybe, I guess,” he admitted, a tentative smile curling his lips despite himself. “He’s kind of gorgeous, isn’t he?” he whispered.

“_Kind of?_” Eva repeated, a little too loud, and Jonas and Even both turned their heads to look back at them curiously. Isak quickly smacked her arm and they both shut up instantly, probably looking guilty as hell, but luckily Even just smiled a little bemusedly and opened the door to the conference room. Jonas cast a knowing look at them, a smirk that said _you’re filling me in later whether you like it or not_, and Isak groaned internally.

He did _not _need this trip to become another one of his friends’ desperate attempts to get him together with someone. Their schemes were well-meaning, he knew, but he was fine, thank you very much. He was not at all painfully lonely, and he definitely was not in dire need of someone to give him cuddles and kisses. Not one bit.

They all settled in around a large table and turned in their chairs to face the projector that Even was now fiddling with. The frustrated little frown on his face and his pillowy, pouting lips as he struggled to get the projector working were undeniably adorable, and Isak felt his heart give a tiny flutter.

When the screen finally lit up with a powerpoint, Even whipped around to face the group, clapping his hands together and grinning brightly.

“Alright! Let’s get started. As you all know, over the next few days we’re going to be hiking into some of the protected wilderness of Femundsmarka National Park. We’ll start by trekking west through the most accessible mountain pass, then we’ll be travelling along the ridge before making our way down into the valley.”

Even explained their route, then put on a serious face to talk to them about various safety measures and precautions. Isak found himself only half-listening, hoping his friends would fill him in on the important stuff later because he was mesmerized by just watching Even talk. Everything about him was so expressive and captivating, from his eyebrows to his gesturing hands.

He was broken out of his reverie when he heard Even’s tone of voice abruptly change, switching from his practiced presentation to his natural, friendly cheer. It made Isak perk up instantly, shaking himself out of his daze and unwisely glancing over to see Eva and Jonas both smirking at him knowingly.

“Great, now that the boring part’s over, let’s eat!” Even exclaimed, and Mahdi and Magnus cheered.

When they got to the cafeteria, the group shuffled onto the benches of a large communal table and eagerly welcomed the steaming platters of hot food that were brought out from the kitchen and placed in the middle. They pounced on the food the moment it hit the table, Magnus elbowing Jonas out of the way to grapple for the serving spoon as he announced that he “could literally eat one of you guys right now.” Isak maintained his dignity and waited until his more voracious friends had loaded their plates to start, though his stomach was grumbling as well. He would never admit it might have had something to do with Even sitting across from him.

They kept making eye contact, or at least he thought they did. Maybe it was just his stupid brain getting ahead of itself but it seemed like their eyes kept meeting across the table, just for an instant, before one of them would quickly look away. There were butterflies in his stomach, and it was a wonderful feeling.

“So, Even,” Jonas started, mumbling through a mouth stuffed with stew, “you don’t look much older than us; how did you end up out here in the middle of nowhere?”

Even chuckled, eyes crinkling – a good look on him, Isak noted – and nodded in acknowledgement.

“Yeah, I did a year at UiO but then I decided I’d rather be out here doing something I love and meeting cool new people in the fresh air. For now, at least. I’ll probably go back eventually.”

“What were you studying at UiO?” Isak found himself asking, his sudden curiosity beating out his giddy nervousness.

When Even turned his attention to him, Isak kind of wanted to be swallowed by the bench beneath him, kind of wanted to preen.

“Film,” Even told him, then gave a cheeky smirk, during which Isak noticed that he had rather sharp incisors, which started his mind down a certain path before he jerked himself off of it. “I’m not so hot at the book stuff, but I know art when I see it.” He held Isak’s gaze a little too long after that, making Isak suddenly become very interested in his mashed potatoes.

“That’s cool,” he murmured into his plate, then, after a pause; “What are your favorite films?”

“Oh Isak,” Even grinned, “you don’t know what you’ve just gotten yourself into.”

From then on it suddenly became a conversation between just the two of them, the others fading into the background, chattering amongst themselves. It flowed so easily, Even teasing Isak for never having seen a Baz Luhrmann film, Isak tentatively flirting, Even – maybe, possibly – flirting back. Eventually they’d gone through a whole list of movies, none of which Isak had seen, and all of which Even spoke passionately about in a way that made Isak smile and make a mental note to watch every last one of them once he got home.

Their little private conference was interrupted, however, when Mahdi leaned over and poked Even in the shoulder, smirking.

“Hey, anything you’d like to share with the class, you two?”

Isak looked over to his friends for basically the first time that dinner, and saw Jonas and Eva snickering at them, which he attempted to quash with a well-placed glare, but was only partially successful.

Even took the teasing in stride, laughing warmly. “Not unless you want to be bored by my nerdy film talk.”

After that, they were looped back into the conversation, which unfortunately at this point seemed to be about Magnus’s struggling love life – always a risky topic considering Magnus’s unawareness of boundaries and lack of a filter. It only took a minute before he said something that made Isak want to die of embarrassment.

“Take Even, for example,” he started, leaning past Mahdi to address their guide. “You’re, like, a sexy mountain man, you must have chicks falling all over you, right?”

Isak immediately buried his face in his hands, and Jonas groaned.

Even just laughed good-naturedly, shaking his head, making his pretty hair bounce. “Nei, I mean, the job sometimes comes with attention from girls and guys but I can’t say I’m one to take advantage of that. Not usually, anyway.”

Isak peeked through his fingers, intrigued by the answer, and saw Even staring straight at him. Something about his gaze made him freeze, then blush and quickly look down. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of Even’s response – he hadn’t missed how he’d included guys in that; did that mean Isak maybe, possibly, stood a slight chance? But what did it mean that he didn’t usually take advantage of it? Maybe he didn’t like hooking up with clients, that would be understandable, but then the way he’d been looking at Isak pointedly after…

Before his hopeful pondering could get too far, Magnus piped up excitedly.

“Oh cool, does that mean you’re bi? Mahdi’s bi too. And Isak’s, like, hella gay.”

“_Excuse me!?_” Isak sputtered in disbelief at Magnus’s bluntness – though he shouldn’t really have been surprised.

Jonas choked on his stew next to him, nearly spitting it out as he coughed and laughed, and Magnus shrugged, undiscouraged.

“What? It’s true. It’s not a bad thing, Isak.”

Isak was in the middle of building up to a _really_ good eye roll, about to tell Magnus that you didn’t just go _shouting out _other people’s sexualities willy-nilly, nor did you _ask people you just met_ theirs, when everything stopped at the sound of Even’s deep, full belly-laugh, filling his ears and warming him from the inside out. He turned to look, to catch the sight of Even’s eyes crinkled all the way closed, head thrown back to expose the elegant, pale column of his throat, as Isak’s breath caught in his.

“I’m pan, actually, Magnus,” Even said kindly when he’d recovered, still, incredibly, seeming unbothered by their antics. “And I think being hella gay is great.” His eyes sparkled playfully when he looked back to Isak.

As much as he hated to admit it, he was actually pretty glad that Magnus had gotten that particular question answered for him. That was one obstacle he didn’t have to worry about, at least.

Their conversation drifted into LGBT representation in media, and while Isak was interested, he couldn’t help his mind from drifting. What if he wasn’t just delusional? What if Even was flirting back?

Once their plates had been thoroughly cleaned, savory sauces mopped up with bread and bellies warm and comfortably full, they wound down into a satiated lull, starting to get sleepy, yawning and stretching.

They were still chatting casually, voices more hushed as the night got later. Finally, they parted ways for the night, Isak and his friends heading to the cabin where they’d be spending the night before they started off bright and early in the morning. His friends chattered, hushed and excited, as they walked to the cabin that Even had pointed out to them, the gravel path crunching under their feet, but Isak was silent; too much to think about to engage. Eva, always in tune to the undercurrents of his moods, hung back again to walk beside him. She smiled at him, raising her eyebrows playfully, and he tentatively smiled back. There was no need for them to put anything into words; they knew they understood each other.

It took a somewhat ridiculous amount of time for all of them to get ready for bed – Jonas and Madhi fighting over who got to use the sink to brush their teeth first, everyone yelling and covering their eyes when Magnus just starting to take off _all _of his clothes in the middle of the room, Magnus and Madhi arguing about who got which bunk. Once they were all in their pajamas, they were too excited to go to bed right away; the setting too reminiscent of childhood sleepovers to forgo a little bit of sitting around, laughing and gossiping and talking about the trip ahead of them.

“Shit, guys,” Magnus said, lying on his back on the lower bed (which Madhi had most definitely staked his claim to). “What if we run into a bear? Is it like, the slowest one of us gets eaten?”

“Did you pay _any_ attention during Even’s presentation?” Madhi asked incredulously, and their arguing faded into the background when Jonas turned to Isak with a grin and a quirked eyebrow.

“So, how about Even, huh?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Isak grumbled half-heartedly. Eva giggled, sharing a look with Jonas, and Isak flopped down onto Eva’s bed, sighing.

“He’s a cool guy,” Jonas declared. “I like him.”

Isak half wanted to roll his eyes and thank Jonas for giving them his blessing, but he really didn’t need to fan the flames.

He pulled out his phone, at first scrolling idly, waiting for his friends to settle down so he could go to sleep, but then curiosity struck him, and he couldn’t ignore it. He opened facebook and started typing ‘Even Bech Næsheim’ until the first suggestion popped up with a face he recognized. He felt weirdly nervous, like he was snooping or doing something wrong that he might get caught doing, so he scrolled down his profile slowly, almost delicately, paranoid that he might accidentally like some old post and have to explain it.

Eva lay down next to him, turning on her side and propping herself up on her elbow to see him. He felt enough that he didn’t really have to be embarrassed in front of Eva that he didn’t try to hide his phone from her or swat her away.

“Ooh, is this Even’s profile?” she asked, and Isak nodded silently. She scooted closer so they were lying side by side, peering together at Isak’s phone.

Even’s profile picture was a closeup of his face, smiley widely towards the camera, his hair mussed from wind, a chunky scarf wrapped up around his neck. He was beautiful, unsurprisingly, and Isak suppressed what would have been an embarrassingly lovelorn sigh.

Eva “awwed” at a picture of Even with what he guessed were his friends, all gathered together on a couch, laughing together.

He had lots of pictures of him out hiking in beautiful landscapes, and Isak concluded that he looked better in each and every photo. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was the picture that came up of Even standing in what appeared to be an art exhibit, dressed up a little in a button-down shirt, next to a group of drawings, somewhere between cartoon-like and abstract in style. They were nice, and Isak found himself bringing his phone closer to his face to see better. There was a caption as well, thanking some gallery for including his piece in their exhibition.

“Huh, that’s cool,” Eva mused, “I didn’t know he did art too.”

Isak made a noise of agreement, filing away that piece of information about Even that made him seem just a little bit more perfect. He continued to scroll until suddenly, he came across a picture that made his buoyant heart sink like a stone. It was Even and a pretty blonde girl, their arms around each other, standing on a city street. She was smiling up at him, and he was grinning down at her, and they were the perfect picture of a happy couple. As if to any doubt that this was a girlfriend, it was posted on Valentine’s day, accompanied by a little heart emoji.

“Oh,” Isak murmured after a moment, small and defeated.

Eva grimaced next to him, tilting her head like she was trying to come up with a way to make this not as bad as it looked, but she came up short.

“Well, that sucks,” she said sympathetically, wrapped an arm around Isak’s shoulders and pulled him into a quick side hug.

“What sucks?” Jonas asked from across the room, stepping over their haphazardly-thrown bags all over the floor to make his way over to his and Eva’s bed.

“Even has a girlfriend,” Eva explained.

“Aw, sorry Is,” Jonas said, patting him on the head, getting himself an extra-grumpy glare.

“It’s okay,” Isak sighed, reluctantly hoisting himself up from the bed to climb up into his bunk. “It was stupid anyway.”

“That’s so weird. I really thought I was picking up on something from him,” Eva mused, but Isak just shrugged.

He crawled into bed, cocooning himself in his sleeping bag and waiting for his friends to turn out the lights so he could mope in peace. It wasn’t like he was in love with the guy or anything, but he’d given him butterflies, and he’d gotten excited. It was disappointing, was all. He didn’t fall asleep for a long while, torturing himself with fantasies he now knew were never going to come true. There was a little ache below his sternum that seemed excessive for what this was – an hours-long infatuation, a flash in the pan – but it was there nonetheless.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all, I'm back with another episode of Isak Being Flustered in the Woods, featuring Isak sulking, some tension, a huge cliche, and some truly terrible innuendos that I hope you'll forgive me for. 
> 
> Thanks so much for the nice responses to the first chapter <3 Hope you enjoy this one!
> 
> One small realism note- Realistically, they would probably bring a small portable stove to cook on a trip like this, but I wanted the campfire aesthetic so they're doing fires, which are a lot less practical but definitely more romantic.

The morning came with soft yellow light and chirping birds, and it took Isak a few moments of yawning and stretching before he realized that he was in a sleeping bag in a cabin and not his bed at home. He rolled over and groaned into the pillow while the others rustled around getting ready, never a fan of mornings or anything to do with waking up.

When he stumbled outside (the last one, of course), he was still hazy with sleep. It was early, the light still soft and diffused through the morning mist that clung to the ground. He made his way to the clump of his friends he vaguely saw ahead of him without really looking, dropped his bag to the ground with a thump, and rubbed his eyes sleepily. When he blinked them open, he was met with Even’s smiling face, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed despite the hour.

“Good morning!” he chirped, crinkling his stupid pretty eyes at Isak in a way that just made him squint back skeptically and grunt, because it was frankly offensive how energetic Even was this early.

“Aw, come on, Isak, it’s a beautiful day!” he cooed, at which Isak gave an emphatic eyeroll. Even just laughed and smiled wider, unperturbed by Isak’s morning grumpiness. In fact, the gaze he cast upon him would seem almost fond if Isak didn’t know better – which only reminded him that he _did_ know better, and his shoulders slumped.

“Not a morning person?” Even asked teasingly, but Isak didn’t have the heart to play along, just sighing and shrugging.

“Not really,” he mumbled, looking at the dirt in front of his feet. When he looked up just in time to catch the way Even’s cheerful demeanor slipped a bit, his face falling slightly, Isak was struck by guilt. It wasn’t fair to make Even sad by sulking around him; it wasn’t like he’d done anything wrong, anyway, he’d been nothing but friendly and warm and Isak had gotten himself carried away. So he resolved himself to at least try to pretend nothing had changed since last night, forcing the most believable smile he could muster, and feeling immediately gratified when Even smiled back, relaxing.

Despite his best efforts to remain grumpy and lick his wounds off in a corner where it wouldn’t bother anyone, he found that Even’s happiness elevated his mood against his will. It certainly didn’t help that it _was_ a beautiful morning, and all of his friends were actually behaving for once; their excitement to set off on their adventure combined with their early-morning sleepiness to make them just subdued enough to seem normal.

Isak crouched down in the dirt to lace up his boots, tightening the laces securely up to his ankles and tying them with a double knot. Standing up, he pulled a snapback down over his curls – not really typical hiking gear, he knew, but it would protect him a bit from the sun, and anyway, it was kind of his brand. Next to him, Eva had a similar idea, pulling her hair back and wrapping it in a bandana, while Jonas sprayed bug spray onto the backs of her arms, a concentrated little frown on his face, making sure he didn’t miss any spots. It made Isak smile, and also made his heart hurt a little bit, just the reminder of what it looked like to be in a loving relationship, which at this point he didn’t know if he’d ever be.

Speaking of Isak’s eternal loneliness, Even called their attention to him with a whistle.

“Okay, final supply check before we head out. Everyone look in your bags and make extra sure you have everything on your checklist.”

A chorus of zipping followed as they all rustled through their packs, double-checking their supplies of food, water, clothes, rain gear, sleeping bags, tent poles, cookware, etc. They each had their own checklists, provided by Even, so that different people were responsible for different communal items. Oddly, Isak felt like he somehow got the easiest list – he’d noticed that his pack was a bit lighter than everyone else’s.

Once they’d confirmed that they were packed and ready (or in Magnus’s case, once he’d figured out he’d missed about a quarter of the things on his list and hurriedly run back to the cabin to get them), they turned to Even once again, awaiting instruction like a tiny, ragtag group of soldiers.

“Great, so now we can finally get to the fun part! We’ll be entering at the trailhead just right off of the parking lot and heading west to start. It’ll be a pretty gradual elevation gain for the first couple of miles, then it’ll be steeper while we make our way up and over the mountain pass to get deeper into the park. The plan for today is to get about 9 miles under our belts, then we’ll find a spot to set up camp on the other side. Sound good?”

There was a chorus of nods and then they all hoisted their packs up onto their backs, with one last glance at civilization before it was swallowed up by the pine trees behind them.

A few hours into their trek, it was approaching noon, and it was surprisingly warm for late-August, the Norwegian fall usually creeping in by this point, bringing with it a chilly snap to the air. This gave Jonas a great excuse to go off about climate change – a fair point, but a little hard to take seriously when he was panting between every word. Of course, Even joined him, and the two of them just encouraged each other’s rants. Isak rolled his eyes, even though no one would see. It was just the principle of the thing.

A bead of sweat tracked down Isak’s forehead, pooling on his brow, and he’d long since ditched the snapback to allow his sweaty curls to air out and cool him, and wrestled his way out of the light fleece he had on to start out with. They were on the ‘steep incline’ portion of the trail, which Isak grumbled internally was actually an understatement, and he hoped to god it wouldn’t be for very much longer. It wasn’t actually a particularly steep or tall mountain; the peaks in this area more rolling than soaring, so he knew he was being dramatic, but still. It wasn’t that he was out of shape; he considered himself pretty fit, and he worked out just enough to get some tone to his muscles, but he certainly wasn’t one of those insane people who _enjoyed_ sweating and huffing and puffing while their muscles ached. Well, only in certain contexts, anyway.

The trail was fairly narrow, so they’d fallen into a single file line, loosely, throughout the course of the hike. Isak had been near the back for pretty much the whole way. Even, of course, led them, and Magnus started out trailing close behind him like an excited puppy, Mahdi up with him at first, then dropping back by Isak. Eva and Jonas made up the middle until Jonas moved up to have a mini conference with Even about capitalism’s dire threat to our environment.

Isak took a long pull of water from the hydration tube coming out of his backpack, internally bemoaning the fact that his friends had dragged him out to do _hard physical labor_ for days in a row instead of going to a spa or something. He was about to open his mouth and complain to Eva when suddenly they rounded a corner tucked into the mountainside and – _holy shit_.

Everyone else had the same reaction, apparently, as they’d all stopped, just frozen for a moment to admire the view laid out before them. Revealed to them now that they’d crossed the mountain pass was a wide valley, bathed in the bright afternoon sunlight. There were patches of dark green forest, dotted with scraggly pines and broken every so often by the line of a stream passing through. The rest was low grass and shrubs, some of it beginning to turn to hues of red and gold with the approaching autumn, making for a beautifully colored blanket over the land.

“Whoah,” Magnus said eloquently, but honestly pretty much just saying what they all were thinking.

Even chuckled, grinning like he was really enjoying their impressed faces. “Yeah, you’ll get used to it. This is just the beginning.”

“On a practical note,” he continued, “why don’t we take this opportunity to take a food break?”

Everyone agreed readily, gladly taking the opportunity to take the loads off of their backs and rest for a minute. Isak found a relatively flat-topped rock and sat heavily, with a huff. He hadn’t noticed when his body was so occupied, but as soon as he stopped he started to realize that he was starving. Following his friends’ lead, he dug through his backpack for the trail food he’d packed separately, intended for a mid-hike lunch.

Across from him, Even sat down on a log, unfolding his long legs and stretching them out in front of him with a long sigh. Isak became very involved in unwrapping his protein bar, hoping to subtly avoid Even’s gaze, but when he looked up, Even was staring at him with a little smirk and glimmering eyes. Why did he always look like something was funny? Isak raised an eyebrow at him in question, taking a timid bite, and Even’s smile grew.

“So, enjoying yourself so far?”

Isak shrugged, wanting to deny it, but he couldn’t lie. “Yeah,” he admitted. “It’s really pretty out here. And I like how quiet it is.”

Even nodded. “It’s nice getting out of the city; I think the quiet really helps clear your head sometimes. I know I certainly needed that every once in a while, back when I wasn’t doing this all the time.”

Isak hummed in agreement, turning his gaze out to the open vista ahead of him, soaking it all in as a pleasant breeze tickled his cheeks, cooling him. He was painfully aware that Even just kept looking at him, those intense blue eyes of his resting on him as gently as they seemed to be able to, easy and thoughtful. He hated to admit it, but Even looked even better in this setting, the expanse of pristine wilderness behind him, sun on his high cheekbones and breeze in his hair. He looked at home, like he was in his element. _He’s not for you,_ Isak scolded himself, not for the first time that day. He finished his protein bar and opened a pack of jerky, frowning down at it like it could give him some sort of solution to this problem.

He heard Even snicker, and looked up.

“Don’t like jerky?” he asked teasingly.

Isak floundered for a moment, not sure how to explain that _“no, this frown is due to the fact that I very much want to date you and I’m not allowed and it’s stupid so this jerky is going to pay for it.” _

“Do you?” he shot back lamely.

Even shrugged, pursing his lips like he was considering it. “It’s fine, but I prefer meat sticks, personally. More to get your mouth around.”

Isak gaped. Wait, was that an intentional innuendo? Was Even _flirting_? His playful, mischievous expression seemed to say yes, but so had their interactions the night before, and that had clearly turned out to be wrong. Unsure how to respond, Isak was thankful for once when Magnus abruptly interrupted, asking Even something about equipment that he tuned out.

He shook himself out of it, focusing on his snack and refusing to look back up until everyone was zipping their packs back up and getting ready to head off again. When he did, he caught a glimpse of Even’s expression, looking at him with a slight frown, almost concern on his face, before he quickly turned away.

When they finally reached their campsite for the night, it was safe to say that everyone was thoroughly exhausted from their first day of hiking – legs sore, shoulders aching from their packs, drained from the relentless sun almost as much as the exercise.

Everyone but Even, of course, who was energetic as ever, prowling the little clearing near a stream that they’d chosen, looking for the best places to set up their tents. It made a strange picture – he was crouching down, feeling the ground and getting his head down close to it to see how flat it was, and enthusiastically rattling on, explaining the process of picking a place to pitch a tent. Unfortunately for Even, they were all far too tired to be paying his teachings any attention.

Isak dropped his backpack, and Eva did the same next to him, flopping down onto the grass, throwing her arms up and lying back against a smooth rock jutting out of the landscape next to the other boys, who were already all sprawled out on the ground.

Luckily, the sun had lowered in the sky by this point in the day, leaving them with more shade and allowing the air to cool down to a comfortable, refreshing level.

“Go help Even set up the first tent,” Eva instructed casually, with a wave of the hand that wasn’t shading her eyes.

Isak looked at her incredulously, turning to look behind him as if there might have been someone else she could have been addressing.

“Me?” he asked, pointing towards himself, and Eva nodded. “Uh, why me?” Isak scoffed, “Why don’t any of you do it?”

Eva opened her eyes just in order to roll them at him and sighing. “You two need to bond more.”

“We – what? _Bond more!?_ Are you forgetting something?”

“No, but you’re being all weird with him now and it’s annoying. Just go be friends and it’ll be fine. You need to get used to it anyway, since you’re sharing a tent.”

“Since we’re _what?!”_ Isak sputtered, definitely freaking out but trying not to attract attention.

He could tell Eva wanted to roll her eyes again, even if she didn’t do it.

“Think about it, Isak. We have three two-person tents. Jonas and I are obviously going to share one, and you would kill Mahdi or Magnus if you had to share with them, and besides, they’re two peas in a pod. That leaves you and Even. It would be weird if we did it any other way – and he would clearly see that something’s up.”

Isak narrowed his eyes at her, unable to deny her logic but very, very displeased with her conclusions. There was no way he could survive several nights of sharing a tiny tent with Even when he could barely make eye contact with him without first blushing and then feeling a wave of disappointment. He pouted a bit, but when Eva didn’t give in, he resigned himself to his fate.

“You’re taking me out to dinner when we get home from this,” he grumbled, cracked his sore neck, then squared his shoulders and walked over to where Even was pulling a bag of tent pieces out of his own pack.

Even looked up when he heard Isak approach, smiling brightly when he saw who it was.

“Hey!”

“Hi. Need help with the tent?”

“Yeah, that would be great! Here, grab these –“ he handed Isak one half of the tent poles to put together, and Isak nodded confidently, pretending he had any idea how to do this and wasn’t in fact in the position of never having set up a tent before and probably being more trouble than help. He frowned at the thin metal rods in his hand, trying to work out how the sections were connected by the elastic string running through them and slyly watching Even out of the corner of his eye to work out how he was doing it.

He was pretty sure he was being very subtle, but after a minute, when Even already had his all snapped into position and Isak was still untangling his, Even looked at him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Need some help with that?” he chuckled, putting his hands on his hips.

“_Nei – _I” Isak started to protest, but saw from the way Even’s lips were pursed to contain a laugh that he wasn’t fooling anyone. “…maybe.”

Even giggled, stepping over the crumpled tent fabric on the ground to come over to him.

“I take it you’ve never done this before?” he teased, and Isak found himself blushing – which may have had just as much to do with how Even was standing close enough to brush against his shoulder as being embarrassed. Isak shook his head.

“It’s easy,” Even continued, adopting a jokingly pedantic tone, “you just grab this –“ at that, Even took hold of the rod Isak was holding in his hand, but instead of just grabbing the rod like a normal person, he put his hand on top of Isak’s, guiding it to the right angle to match the rod it was attached to.

“—and slide it into this.” He tightened his grip around Isak’s hand to push the two pieces together, and Isak was sure he was staring at him like a wide-eyed fool.

“See? Easy.” Even flashed him a toothy grin, holding in laughter, and Isak rolled his eyes emphatically.

“Yeah, I know how you do it, I’m just…not as fast as you.”

Even raised his eyebrows, eyes glinting mischievously. “You just need practice.”

Isak cleared his throat, suddenly feeling warm and kind of off-kilter. He realized Even still hadn’t let go of his hand. Even’s eyes followed his when they involuntarily flicked down to where his large hand was covering Isak’s, and he let go, but didn’t really seem like he was rushing to do it. He smiled at him more softly now, in a way that somehow made him feel reassured, soothed whatever last stubborn butterflies had been fluttering around in his stomach.

“We can both do it. That way you’ll get practice and it’ll go a little faster.”

Isak complied, putting his end of the tent pole together. It really wasn’t a difficult task in the slightest, but he just wasn’t the best at getting unruly objects under control.

When they got it together, they put them aside, and Even knelt down next to the crumpled tent fabric on the ground.

“We need to spread this out on the ground,” he instructed. “Here, you take this end.”

They spread the tent out into a rectangle on the pine-covered ground, then began the process of attaching the tent poles and clipping the tent on to them, which Isak was terrible at – of course, and which Even found immensely amusing – of course.

“I’m glad you’re so entertained by this,” Isak grumbled, pouting, but Even just grinned harder and shrugged.

“It’s cute, like watching a puppy try to figure out a new toy and barking at it when it gets frustrated.”

Isak gaped, sputtering, trying to think of a comeback – but nothing would come out except some scoffs. He very much intended to be offended, but instead he found himself flustered and almost flattered. What the hell was Even doing calling him _cute_, anyway? You weren’t allowed to call boys cute when you had a girlfriend. That wasn’t fair at all.

For his part, Even seemed completely oblivious to Isak’s internal torment, relaxed and blasé about everything. He bent down to pick up a mesh bag, which jangled when he dropped it into Isak’s hand.

“Here. This should be something even you can do. Just take the tent stakes, put them in the holes, and pound them in.”

Isak could have sworn that the little shit actually had the gall to _wink_ at him before he swept off, without a care in the world, to go help Eva and Jonas build a fire. Isak grumbled to himself as he went around the perimeter of the tent, putting the stakes in the ground. Who did Even even think he was, being all perfect and pretty and it sure as hell seemed like he was flirting with him, but Isak knew that was just Even being friendly and he was being the freak who read too much into it. He huffed when he finished, putting his hands on his hips and observing his handiwork. At least it had given him time for the blush he’d been wearing ever since their whole interaction had started to wear off before he had to rejoin his friends, because he knew they would give him shit for it if they saw.

The sunset was too beautiful for Isak to keep up his sour mood. Every time he started getting annoyed with the situation, mother nature had to come around and do something that ruined his whole sulk. They were finishing up their meal, just in time for the sun to go down and leave them without light to work by. Sitting around the fire, their rowdy group was quiet for a while as they watched, and absorbed, and appreciated what was surrounding them.

The smoke from the fire, still burning, but more calmly than it had been, rose in contrast against the salmon pink-streaked sky, and everything was peaceful. The birds were quieting down, settling in for the night, and the bugs and crickets had yet to start their orchestrations in full. Even the scents in the air were pleasant – the mild campfire smoke, dissipating with the light breeze; the dry pine needles below them, the cedar logs they sat on.

The food was edible, if not exactly delicious, but to all of their tired tastebuds it seemed to burst with flavor. They had worked together to build a sufficient fire – which was a harder task than Isak anticipated, but more rewarding when completed, too – before cooking the freeze-dried camping meals they shared. Isak was flooded with memories of going to the cabin with Jonas, sitting by the water and listening to him play his guitar, back when the sound filled his stomach with butterflies. He had a similar feeling now, though thank god it was no longer directed at his best friend. Still, a random guy with a girlfriend wasn’t much better.

Once the sun slipped fully behind the mountains in the distance, the spell was broken, and their little coterie fell naturally back into conversation. Even had started telling a story, one that had everyone’s rapt attention, but that Isak was only half paying attention to because he was distracted by the low rumble of his voice. When he finally shook himself out of it and tuned in, he determined that Even was talking about Edvard Munch and the way his inner pain and turmoil was expressed in his art. He was reminded of how much it had drawn him in, to begin with, to hear Even talk about something he was passionate about, when they had been discussing movies over the dinner table. He just lit up in a way that was magnetic, and Isak was helpless against it. It seemed that everyone else was, too – they were all subconsciously leaning in towards him, hooked on his every word. They had the luck to be spared of the hopeless crush part, however.

It wasn’t even very late when they finally decided to turn in, cleaning up and stomping out the fire, but Isak could honestly say he was exhausted. He thought he might even fall asleep quickly for once. But then he remembered where he’d be sleeping, or, more specifically, who would be sleeping next to him. Maybe he’d be lucky and just fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, so he wouldn’t even have to experience the awkwardness. More realistically, he’d probably be tossing and turning for hours, unable to relax with the prettiest boy in the whole stupid universe lying inches away from him.

When everyone got up to head to their tents, saying goodnight, Isak and Even happened to be the last to be ready just slightly. Even got up first, then turned to Isak, and for a heart-stopping moment Isak thought he was going to offer his hand to help him up. He probably looked ridiculous, then, when he stared wide-eyed at the Even’s outstretched hand as he gestured between Isak and their tent.

“Ready for bed, roomie?” he asked, and Isak could see the glint of teeth in his smirk even with only the light of the nearly-full moon.

Isak scoffed, pushing himself up off of the log he’d been sitting on. “Only if you don’t snore.”

When they got inside, Isak realized that he really should have figured out a way for them to not be getting ready for bed in this tiny tent at the exact same time. There wasn’t really room to stand up – especially with Even’s ridiculously long frame – so they were both crouched over as soon as they stepped in. The main issue, however, was that they were both going to have to change into pajamas, and Isak was a) way too shy right now to disrobe in front of a failed crush and b) way too fragile to have said failed crush disrobe in front of him. There was no way around it now, though, and Even seemed to have no such qualms; he was already lifting his t-shirt over his head, and before Isak could blink he was already shirtless, a vast expanse of pale, sculpted skin. Isak swallowed thickly and looked away, gluing his eyes to the floor from now on to avoid being a perv (or, if he was being honest with himself – to avoid getting caught).

He floundered around for a moment, awkwardly hunched in the middle of the tent, unsure how to navigate this to minimize his eternal embarrassment. His solution ended up being to wiggle down into his sleeping bag and attempt to squirm his way out of his pants inside the small space, like a kid at a sleepover. It was still pretty pathetic, but better than the alternatives in his mind.

That was, until he heard Even speak up from beside him, where he was now sitting up at the head of his sleeping bag and watching Isak with a strange expression, one eyebrow raised.

“You could have just asked me to turn around, you know.” His tone was lightly teasing but also genuine, and Isak _knew_ that Even was considerate and a gentleman and of course would be more than willing to give him privacy to change if he wanted it – but Isak didn’t want him to know he wanted it.

Unable to come up with a good comeback, Isak just shrugged, refusing to make eye contact.

There were a few moments of silence, then – “Is it alright if I turn out this light now?”

Isak nodded, still not looking over, and he almost thought he heard Even give a little sigh before reaching over and turning out the small lantern that was hanging from the ceiling of their tent. He could hear the sounds of Even shuffling into his sleeping back, getting into a comfortable position. When that went silent, he detected Eva’s familiar voice, too quiet to make out the words but clearly chastising Jonas about something, based on her tone. Other than that, it was almost eerily silent – just the bugs and the occasional rustling of leaves when a breeze blew past.

“Good night,” he said, almost too quiet to be heard, but after a beat, Even replied.

“Good night, Isak.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with Chapter 3! There will be bonding, fun fireside chats, stargazing, and escalating tensions. Hope you enjoy!

The morning came softly, gently, like it should have been accompanied by Edvard Grieg’s “Morning Mood” playing in the background.

The sun shone through the mesh of the tent, reflecting off of the inner surfaces and filling the whole tent with a bright, diffused glow. Its angle made it clear that it was early, probably not long after sunrise, but the world had woken up slowly enough to wake Isak gradually, nudge him out of sleep, so that he miraculously actually didn’t want to kill someone for making him be up this early.

He gave a big yawn and buried his face in his makeshift pillow, nuzzling into it and groaning quietly, his whole body slightly stiff and sore from sleeping on a relatively hard surface all night. He lifted his arms up to stretch, yawning again, and that’s when he remembered exactly where he was.

He opened his eyes suddenly, finding himself face to face with Even. An awake Even, at that, who was looking right at him. He looked away quickly, almost like he was embarrassed. Isak should have looked away too – Even was adorably rumpled and soft from sleep, red pillow marks on his cheek and hair going every which way, and Isak couldn’t take it.

“Good morning,” Even rumbled, his voice even deeper than usual and raspy with sleep, and damn, that was even worse than looking at him. Isak actually felt goosebumps raise along his arms, and he was thankful for the fluffy down sleeping back covering him up for a multitude of reasons.

“’Morning,” Isak mumbled back, rubbing his face in the pillow one more time before propping himself up on his elbows and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Next to him, Even sat up and stretched, his arms hitting the roof of the tent. Isak watched out of the corner of his eyes, appreciating the way Even’s t-shirt stretched tight over his back. He rubbed his hand over his face, and Isak marveled, not for the first time, at how big and strong-looking it was.

Jesus. His self-control was really lacking this early in the morning.

“I don’t think anyone else is up yet,” Even said. “Can you come along and help me get us some water from the stream for the day?”

Isak nodded, figuring he couldn’t really say no without seeming like an ass, even though he wasn’t sure about the prospect of spending more alone time with Even, where he would probably be expected to converse with him and act normal.

Even smiled, getting out of his sleeping bag and pulling a button-down out of his pack in the corner of the tent. He threw it on, looking back at Isak with a smirk.

“Don’t worry, I’ll leave so you don’t have to get into your clothes in a cocoon this time.”

With that, he left Isak in the tent, alone with his raging blush and definitely present morning wood.

A few minutes later, Isak and Even were heading down the valley, picking their way carefully over the rocky terrain, down a groove in the hillside left by a dried-up stream. Even seemed to know exactly where they were going – how, Isak had no idea; he was just following his lead. They’d barely left the campsite and already he felt like he’d probably get lost trying to get back on his own.

As they descended, the sparse trees grew smaller before disappearing altogether, making way for low brush and taller grasses and rocks covered in moss and lichen. They were silent along their way, and Isak found himself tuning in to the sounds around him. It was almost meditative, the repetitive, dull thud of their steps, the breeze rustling through the bushes, the distant babbling of a stream, its sound growing steadily closer as they went. He almost forgot that he was alone with Even yet again, and that combined with the fresh air had him in a pretty good mood by the time the stream came into view.

They clambered down the rocky, steep sides of the stream to get to a small sandy bank. The water was crystal-clear, running rapidly over the small, multicolored stones in the riverbed.

It looked so pretty, and so pure, that Isak crouched down and stuck his hand in it, yelping and retracting sharply when he felt how fucking _cold_ it was.

“Are you okay?” he heard Even ask, worry clear in his voice.

“Yeah, just didn’t realize I was sticking my hand into a fucking ice bath!”

Evan laughed, clutching his stomach. “It’s a mountain stream, in _Norway_, Isak, what did you expect?”

“Don’t make fun of me!” Isak complained, pouting and shoving his hand under his armpit to warm it up. “I might lose my fingers to frostbite. Then you’d feel like a real dick.”

Even laughed again, and then ‘awwed.’ “You’re right. Your poor hand. Need me to kiss it better?”

Isak rolled his eyes and attempted a glare, which was probably made ineffective by the hot blush he could feel rising on his cheeks. If only Even could go a few hours without being obliviously flirty, maybe Isak would have some time to recover and get his shit together.

Taking off his backpack and swinging it down to the ground, Even pulled out the water bottles he had brought, and Isak followed his lead and did the same.

“We’ll fill these up here, and then take them back to the campsite to filter and treat the water,” Even explained, and knelt down in the sand to start gathering water from the stream.

Isak nodded, doing the same.

“Where did you learn all this stuff?” he asked, surprising himself. He just couldn’t help it – he wanted to know everything about Even, to be able to imagine him going on camping trips as a kid, gathering this wealth of knowledge; his first time going out alone as a lanky teenager, nervous but determined.

Even hummed, not looking away from his task, but a warm smile found its way onto his face, like he was recalling fond memories. “My parents are big outdoors people. I’m pretty sure I was only a couple of months old the first time they took me out on a day hike, stuffed in one of those baby-backpack things.” He chuckled at the memory. “I don’t think either of them ever expected me to make a job of it, but it happened to come in handy. They taught me a lot, and we’ve been on a lot of backpacking trips together over the years. That was pretty much what we did instead of going somewhere for all of our vacations. Which was awesome, but it also means I still really want to get to go to the Louvre someday.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” Isak said lamely, but only because he was too busy absorbing and processing every bit of new information about Even he’d gotten to formulate a good response.

“Why the Louvre?” he added after a minute of silence.

Even shrugged. “While I guess it’s just sort of where all art kids want to go, you know? There are all these famous works there that I’ve always seen pictures of and learned about. It would be surreal to see all that in person.”

Isak filed that information into the growing section of this brain marked ‘Even,’ and considered it more. It made sense, given what he knew about Even’s interest in film, that he’d be into art too, the kind that gets hung in fancy museums in Paris.

“Do you, like, make art stuff too?”

Even gave a hearty laugh at that, almost spilling the bottle he had just finished filling up.

“Yes, I ‘make art stuff.’ I draw and paint, mostly.”

“Wow,” Isak let out, a little more sincerely than he meant to. “I mean, that’s really cool. I’m sure it’s…really good.” He cringed at himself internally for sounding like a complete idiot – why did Even continue to make him go braindead whenever he was in his presence?

“It’s nothing fancy. But I like it. My parents really encouraged me to pursue my interests in art when I was growing up, so it was sort of a hobby that never ended up dying out.”

“It sounds like you’re pretty close with your parents. They seem like cool people.”

“Yeah, I am, and they are. I got really lucky that way.” Even’s face lit up even more, talking about his family. There was clearly a lot of love there, and it made Isak’s heart ache a little. But he was happy for him, too.

“That’s nice.”

“How about you?” Even asked lightly.

Isak paused, grimacing a bit. “Uh, we’re not really close. It’s kind of complicated with them.”

Even nodded, his face so open and understanding and his eyes so kind that Isak found himself volunteering more information than he usually told anyone, the words just tumbling out.

“My mom’s not well – she’s schizophrenic, and she wasn’t getting the help she needed for a long time so it was pretty bad, and it was hard to handle as a kid, with her outbursts and unpredictability. It was scary. And then my dad got fed up and left, and then it was just me and her, and so then _I _left because I couldn’t deal with her on my own, and for a while we were really distant but my mom’s been doing a lot better and I’ve mostly forgiven my dad so things are…okay, but we’re not exactly a big happy family.”

He stared blinking at Even like a deer in headlights when he was done, surprised and a little mortified at how much he’d just shared about one of the hardest times in his life, with a guy he’d known for all of two days.

But rather than looking weirded-out, Even nodded in understanding, eyes full of sympathy.

“That sounds really hard,” he said earnestly.

Isak sighed, looking down and picking at the edge of his shirt. All of a sudden there was a bit of a lump in his throat. He didn’t know what was getting into him.

“Yeah, it was rough for a bit. But it’s better now.”

Even looked like he wanted to say more, but a few moments passed and he still hadn’t, and Isak couldn’t stand the weird tension in the air any longer, so he broke it by grabbing a water bottle and getting back to his task, making it pretty clear the conversation was over.

Still, when they packed up and began the trek back to the campsite a few minutes later, it felt like something had changed, like some ground had been broken. There was a silent understanding between the two of them, and a growing appreciation of one another that somehow helped to settle Isak’s frayed nerves and ease the butterflies in his stomach whenever Even looked at him. Even was incredibly hot and magnetic and flirty, yes, but he also seemed like a really cool person, someone Isak could see being friends with.

This time, as they walked back, even though the uphill climb was much more of a burden on their lungs, they found themselves talking the whole way – not about anything special, not solving world hunger or anything, but just chatting and laughing about whatever small things came to mind.

By the time they arrived back at the camp, Isak was feeling relaxed and light, despite the heavy pack on his back. The slight chill of the early morning was gone, leaving the sunlight stronger, the mist burnt off, the world fully in motion for the day. Aside from his friends, that was – they came back to find the campsite still and silent, everyone but them asleep in their tents. Next to him, Even tossed down his pack and sighed.

“I guess I should wake everyone up,” he said, grimacing. “I hate being the bad guy.”

Isak rolled his eyes at him (he had to keep up his reputation, after all), but smiled nonetheless, shaking his head. “Well I don’t. I’ll do it,” he offered, and Even gave him a thankful smile before starting to unload the water they had collected to begin sterilizing it.

It gave him a warm feeling in his chest to be able to do something for Even, and this time, he didn’t chastise himself for it. It was perfectly fine to like someone and enjoy their company, even if that someone had a girlfriend. And he could be fine with that – he _would_ be fine with that.

This day’s hike saw them making their way the rest of the way down the mountainside and crossing the valley below. It was less strenuous, since most of it was downhill or fairly flat, but it was longer than the day before. In the middle of the valley, there were fewer trees to shade them, but luckily it was a pleasant day, the sun not too strong above them, and a light breeze cooling them as it swept uninhibited across the landscape.

They were about halfway through, at the midpoint of the valley, and they’d just started up again after taking a break for a light lunch. The order of their little group had shuffled around during the course of the hike, but now Isak found himself near the back again, and this time, Jonas dropped back from where he’d been up with Magnus and Eva until he was keeping pace next to Isak.

“Hey bro,” Jonas greeted, and Isak give him a smile and a nod, before casting his eyes back on the ground, picking out where to place his feet next on the rocky path. They were far enough back from the others that they wouldn’t be heard, and the wind carried their voices in the opposite direction.

“We haven’t really had a chance to talk alone since – well, since we left Oslo, I guess,” Jonas laughed, “but anyway, sorry we had to put you in a tent with Even, I know that must be kind of awkward.”

He grimaced in sympathy, and it looked genuine. Isak felt a wave of warmth for his best friend, as much as he might pretend to be annoyed by him sometimes. He really did always keep his feelings in mind, and it was appreciated.

Isak shrugged. “It’s okay; I was exhausted last night so I still managed to get some sleep.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie. It was just that he also spent a significant portion of the night lying awake, stock still on his back, blinking into the dark, hyperaware of Even’s presence next to him and the beating of his own heart in his ears.

“Have you talked to him?” Jonas asked, and Isak looked at him like he’d just pulled a rabbit out of his beanie.

“No? There’s nothing to talk about. I read way too much into a friendly interaction and made a fool of myself, he has a girlfriend because of course he does, have you seen him? End of story.”

Now it was Jonas’s turn to shrug. “I don’t know man. I’m just saying, talking never hurts.”

Isak made a noncommittal grunt, redoubling his effort and powering forward until his thighs burned.

When they were nearing the far end of the valley, reaching towards the foothills before the next mountains, on top of a slightly higher point than the rest of the swath of land, they spotted a herd of reindeer crossing the valley. Eva noticed them first, pointing them out but wisely holding in any excited exclamations and keeping her voice quiet and calm. Even explained that reindeer had exceptional hearing, and that even though they were pretty far in the distance, it would be easy to scare them off. They all stood in a cluster and watched for a while, handing around the two pairs of binoculars they had between them so they each had a chance to see them more close-up.

It was a majestic sight – the small group of them, dotting the landscape, contrasted against the low vegetation in its changing fall colors. They moved slowly, grazing, heads popping up to scan the area, ears swiveling, before dipping back down again. There was even a calf, trotting along beside them, sticking close it its mothers side.

When the binoculars were passed to him, after some fiddling and help adjusting them to his eyes from Magnus, he could see them even more clearly – the ragged surface of their coats, some of them partially shedding; the way their ears flicked when flies landed on them; the movement of their jaws as they chewed.

After they’d all gotten a good look, they reluctantly moved on, still watching them as they went. The sighting brought them some excitement, and gave them the boost of energy they needed to get the rest of the way to their next planned camping area in the pine forest close to the foot of the mountains.

The fire was bigger tonight, roaring and crackling, providing light as well as heat in the dark, chilly evening. This time, after dinner had been cooked and eaten, legs had been stretched and necks cracked, they’d stuck around well past sunset, just talking, enjoying the camaraderie and the chilled night air and the sweet smell of smoke. Eva and Jonas were sitting curled up into each other, his arm around her, her head on his shoulder. Magnus was in the middle of their little circle, sitting on the ground up close to the fire, warming his hands. Even and Isak were sitting across from each other, propped up on a couple of rocks. Even kept glancing at him, holding his gaze for a moment longer than seemed necessary, and Isak couldn’t tamp down the slightly giddy feelings he got every time, the little smiles he tried to hide. He told himself the heat he felt was just from the fire.

“Have you heard about Isak’s rapping?” Jonas piped up, probably related to something they’d been talking about, but Isak had been too lost in his head to keep track.

Isak saw Even raise his eyebrows, his lips split into a wide grin and his eyes sparkled with laughter as they met Isak’s. He buried his face in his hands with a groan, shaking his head.

“Yeah!” Eva exclaimed, already laughing, “You’ve _got_ to hear it sometime. Really, it’s like, professional-grade.”

Jonas burst into a cackle, and Mahdi slapped his knees, wheezing.

“What was your rap name?” Magnus pretended to think, “Oh yeah, Issy k!”

“Oh my god,” Isak muttered into his palms, “I hate you all.”

“You gotta demonstrate Issy!” Jonas exclaimed with an evil grin, and Eva cheered in agreement.

“No, absolutely not, there is literally no chance in hell.”

His asshole friends were all on the same page now, a page that somehow, because in some past life Isak must have done something really awful, descended into them all telling their embarrassing stories of him as a kid and teenager, much to Even’s delight and Isak’s horror.

“Wow, if any of you still thought you were going to be my friends after this trip, I’ve got news for you,” Isak grumbled, blushing furiously and glaring at the sheer disloyalty.

“Aww,” Even “Don’t be embarrassed. They’re great stories. It’s cute. You’re cute.”

If Isak thought he was blushing before…

He had no idea what Even was doing saying shit like that to him, but honestly, by now, he knew Even well enough to know he wasn’t fucking with him, or trying to lead him on or something. He was just being Even. It was genuine. So as much as it made his heart speed up whenever Even teased or flirted or gave him that special little smile that he hadn’t seen him give anyone else, it was okay. He could take it for what it was.

It allowed him to relax a little, to be more comfortable around him. So he brushed it off, rolling his eyes and snorting. “Damn right I am,” he teased. “But wait until you hear about Jonas back in elementary school. He always had a huge crush on one girl or another in our class and would do the most adorable things to get their attention.”

He turned to Jonas, who he knew would be good-natured about him shifting the attention onto him when he’d kind of had enough. “Like, remember that time you made like a dozen mud cakes in the playground for Iben, and then when you showed her she cried and said she was allergic to cake?”

Eva ruffled Jonas’s hair affectionately.

“Yeah, he’s a bit of a romantic,” she cooed, pinching his cheek.

“Aww, what a softie,” Magnus said.

“Like you all haven’t done something dumb to get a crush to pay attention to you,” Jonas rolled his eyes, looking at each of them pointedly. They had to be careful throwing stones in this group – it was easy to forget they all knew each other’s embarrassing stories.

“Yeah, Magnus especially,” Isak piped up, glad that the tide of the conversation seemed to have turned fully away from him. “He takes desperate to a new level.”

“Hey!” Magnus protested.

“Not me,” Mahdi asserted, leaning back and draping his arms over the pile of backpacks he was using as a chair. “I’m cool as a cucumber.”

“Are we just going to ignore how Isak just burned me for no reason?” Magnus asked incredulously. Jonas reached over and patted him on the shoulder in sympathy.

“How about you?” Mahdi asked, turned towards Even. “What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done to get someone’s attention?”

Even took a pensive sip from his mug of hot tea, cradling it in both his hands to warm them.

“Well, I’m actually a little bit notorious for grand romantic gestures,” he said with a smirk, and Isak once again admired the way everyone around the fire seemed drawn in to whatever he said, giving him their full attention. And he didn’t shy away from it, like Isak did. He sat up taller, straightened his spine, and continued with confidence.

“For Valentine’s day one year, I basically turned our whole apartment into a mini garden, like flowers and plants seriously _all_ over the place. That kind of backfired because my girlfriend ended up nearly sneezing her brains out, and dirt got all over the floors. Oh, and I guess this one doesn’t really count, but once when I was manic I memorized the Quran because I thought I was in love with my best friend and I somehow thought he would like that?”

“Hey, my mom’s bipolar too!” Magnus exclaimed, and reached over to high five Even, who returned it, bemused but laughing. “That’s hilarious dude. Oh my god, this one time my mom bought the grocery store’s entire stock of candy and brought it home for us on Halloween, it was amazing!”

Isak watched Even thoughtfully, regarding him with a warm smile now that he knew all of his accomplishments and skills were despite having to deal with being bipolar. The world could use more people like Even, he decided, even though he’d really already thought that from the beginning.

As Magnus rattled on, Isak kept his eyes on Even. He saw him turn his gaze away from Magnus, looking across the fire until his eyes met Isak’s, almost as if he was seeking him out specifically. This time, Isak didn’t look away, he just raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled. For a moment, he thought he saw a flash of relief on Even’s face.

It was getting kind of late; they really should all be going to sleep, considering how early they needed to be up and how far they needed to travel tomorrow. But instead, they’d transitioned into a calm lull, broken off into smaller, quieter conversations, bundling up and staying cozy in front of the fire for just a while longer. At some point, they’d all shuffled around, and Even had ended up sitting next to Isak; whether it was on purpose, he didn’t know. He tried to tell himself it didn’t matter.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“That story about you convincing your teacher to give you an A on a project you never did was pretty great.”

“Hah. Yeah, thanks. Did you really memorize that whole Quran?”

Even nodded.

“That’s commitment. I’m impressed.”

“Yeah. I really thought it was like, the most important thing I could possibly do.” He was looking down into his lap now, demeanor a bit more somber than Isak was used to, and he gave a short, mirthless laugh. “It’s funny to look back on now, but at the time it…really wasn’t.”

Before he could stop himself, Isak was putting a hand on Even’s forearm, squeezing it comfortingly and nodding. He kind of couldn’t believe he’d just let himself _touch_ Even, but he also wasn’t about to let that moment past without somehow getting across that he understood, and that he was there, and that he thought Even was really fucking awesome.

“I think you’re really fucking awesome,” he said. _Well, shit_. That was one way to do it. And he wasn’t even drunk.

Before he could blush and stutter in embarrassment, he saw the way Even looked over at him, his whole face lighting up. He laughed, and it was a real one this time, coming from deep in his chest somewhere and bursting out in a joyful noise. Isak couldn’t get over the way his eyes sparkled, and crinkled at the sides, and his shiny teeth and pointy canines, and he wanted to melt right into the ground beneath him, but in a good way.

When he’d settled, Even’s smile shifted into something else, something earnest. He placed his hand on top of Isak’s, which apparently was still grasping Even’s arm, and Isak’s breath caught in his throat. His hand was so warm, so large, blanketing his.

“I think you’re really fucking awesome too.”

Isak felt at ease. Despite all that had happened that night – the stories shared and the hushed conversations had and what had kind of felt like an escalation of the tension that he still felt between Even and himself – he was relaxed and content lying next to Even in their tent.

They were supposed to have gone to sleep, but after they’d both gotten into their sleeping clothes – Even had turned around to give Isak privacy, without even being asked, and he hadn’t peeked once – and huddled down in their sleeping bags, they’d started talking instead. They spoke in hushed voices, quiet enough that they wouldn’t keep the others up, so their voices blended in with the crickets.

At some point, Even had shifted closer, so that their arms were pressing together just slightly through their sleeping bags.

“Look,” Even whispered, close enough that his breath tickled Isak’s ear and sent a shiver down his spine. He was pointing up at the mesh ceiling of their tent, towards the sky. “It’s clear enough to see the milky way tonight.”

Sure enough, when he looked up, the sky bared little resemblance to the blanket of black he was used to seeing. Without the pollution of light from human inhabitants, it was filled with stars, wide swaths of light spread across the sky, almost looking like stains left behind by spilled milk. It felt like he was looking up at the whole universe laid out before them.

Even started pointing out different stars and constellations, explaining how in days of old, sailors used to use them to find their way. He told him about how their ancestors used to look up at the night sky and feel the need to explain it, to give names to the stars and tell stories about them, making them human. His voice was soft and low, and it rumbled in Isak’s ear, and before he knew it he slipped into sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone's having a great week! I've been super excited to post this chapter. It's a long one, and I don't want to spoil anything so this time I'm just going to direct your attention to the rating of this fic as fair warning and leave it at that. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)

Isak came out of sleep as gently as he’d fallen into it.

The first thing he became aware of, besides the light bleeding in through his eyelids, was a sweet, fresh smell, like pine needles and tree sap and cloves. Content, he inhaled the scent deeply through his nose, trying to nuzzle closer to it.

He felt extremely comfortable, cozy and safe, and he was warm despite the chilly mountain morning. In fact, he was suspiciously warm. His brow wrinkled slightly into a confused frown, eyes still closed as he drifted further out of sleep and the world around him began to clarify.

There was warmth all around him, and a weight over his waist. One of his hands was peeking out of the top of his sleeping bag and grasping onto something soft, and when he yawned, his nose knocked into a warm nook.

He froze. The realization hit him all at once, all the pieces of sensation around him came together and he became suddenly aware that he was currently, undeniably, thoroughly cuddling Even. He was curled in towards his chest, face buried in the crook of his neck, one hand holding on to his hoodie. Even was on his side facing him, with an arm slung around his waist, keeping him grounded there even when he wanted to fly off into a panic.

As soon as he became aware of his surroundings, he stiffened from head to toe, heart speeding up and mind racing to figure out what to do to mitigate the damage. Even had seemed to be asleep, but he must have felt the sudden change in Isak’s demeanor and woken, because he heard a change in the breathing pattern above him. Even took a deep breath as he awoke, and then reflexively pulled Isak closer by the arm around his waist, which unfortunately was the absolute last thing Isak wanted right now.

Isak was spiraling, still confused about how this had even happened when the last thing he remembered they were both appropriately separated, and now that Even was awake, his window to get out of the situation unscathed was abruptly shut. Just when he was feeling like he had a grip on their relationship, just when he was settling in, he felt like everything had been thrown on its axis, and all he knew was that he had to get out.

It was too late for subtlety – Even was fully aware that they were cuddling and now, probably fully aware that Isak had frozen up in panic because of it. So before Even could disentangle them and start trying to make things better, he extracted himself from Even’s hold and shot up out of his sleeping bag, grabbing his discarded pants from yesterday from the corner before stumbling gracelessly out of the tent.

It felt really stupid to _knock_ on the door of a tent, but he wasn’t sure how else to go about it.

“Jonas, Eva,” he called, trying to be loud enough to wake them but not loud enough to wake Mahdi and Magnus in the next tent over.

It took a minute, but finally the door of the tent was zipped open, to reveal Eva, hair mussed from sleep, squinting at him against the light in confusion.

“Isak?”

“Can you let me in? Just to change in your tent?”

“What, why?”

“Please?”

Eva sighed and stepped back, unzipping the tent the rest of the way to let Isak in. Jonas was rubbing his eyes, groaning.

“What the fuck, Isak?”

“Sorry,” Isak whispered, suddenly feeling stupid and childish for having run to his friends to shelter him, looking down at his feet. “I can leave actually, it’s fine, I’m just being stupid…”

Jonas sat up, disheveled mop of hair flopping around comically. “No man, it’s okay. Stay. What’s wrong?”

Isak looked off to the side, embarrassed and still feeling kind of thrown off and vulnerable, and chewed on his lip. “Umm, well basically I don’t know how it happened but when I woke up, Even and I were like, cuddling? And it was weird and now he’s gonna think I’m weird and it’s gonna be all awkward and I just…need to not be there right now.”

“Isak…” Jonas started, while Eva rubbed Isak’s shoulder comfortingly. “I think you’re overreacting. Did Even seem freaked out by it?”

“…I mean, no. I know he won’t make a big deal of it, but –“

“Bro, it happens. It’s okay. He’ll be cool about it. Honestly, just act normal and laugh it off. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

As always, Jonas’s calm, steady demeanor soothed him somewhat, and he started taking deep breaths as he pulled his pants on.

“Yeah, I guess…” he murmured, not entirely convinced, but no longer in the blind panic he’d been in. He still cringed at the thought of what had happened and how awkward he was going to feel around Even over the next few days. All he could do was savor the next few minutes that he could hide out in Jonas and Eva’s tent, before he had to step outside and face the music.

When he finally had to crawl out of the tent, he dragged his feet over to where everyone else was already circled, going over plans for the day before breaking off to disassemble the tents and pack up the campsite. Even hung back as Isak approached, and Isak braced himself for the inevitable conversation. When he got the courage to look up, his heart was pierced by the sincere, concerned look on Even’s face.

“Hey,” Even said softly, his deep blue eyes searching Isak’s face, for what, he didn’t know. “I hope this morning didn’t make you uncomfortable; I certainly didn’t intend for that to happen.”

“I – you don’t - …it’s okay,” Isak stuttered, not quite sure what to say. Of _course_ Even would respond to this in such a considerate and kind way. He was way too good for Isak; no wonder he had a girlfriend.

Even smiled warmly, and tilted his head. “Cool. It doesn’t have to be weird or anything, okay? Besides, I haven’t woken up that comfy in a long time. You’re a good cuddler.”

And then, _and then_, Even had the _gall_ to finish it off with a wink, turn around on his heel, and walk off to take down their tent like nothing had happened.

Isak was left gaping, blushing and more confused than ever. He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or angry that Even was treating this as a big joke, flirting away as always, with no regard for the absolute whirlwind of Isak’s emotions.

The hike for the third day had them making their way through the ever-thickening pine forest at the base of the mountains. There was a noticeable change in the landscape as they climbed higher and cut across the base of the mountain, the ground becoming rockier, the grasses replaced by moss. Multiple small streams trickled down the mountainside, cutting divots of varying depth into the rock and soil over thousands of years.

Above them, the sky had become slowly overtaken by grey clouds over the course of the morning. The clouds were growing, fattening and roiling and threatening a storm. Even the air hinted of impending rain; it was damp, smelling musty.

Because of this, they were in a bit of a hurry, trying to make it to their intended campsite before the storm hit in full force.

Somehow, during the course of the hike, Isak had ended up at the front of the group, close behind Even. Luckily, there wasn’t a lot of idle chatting going on since they were all focusing their efforts on making their way quickly but safely along the trail. The longer they walked, the more time he had to think about that morning, and to sort out the feelings he was having.

Despite the reassurance from Even that everything was fine, he was still feeling pretty off-kilter. The thing was, if he was being honest with himself, he had _really_ liked waking up in Even’s arms like that. It was a feeling he wasn’t even sure he had known he was missing out on – just the simple comfort of being held. And now that he’d had it, he craved it.

It didn’t help that despite Even’s gentlemanliness throughout this whole thing, he just kept flirting with him, reminding him of what he couldn’t have, and what he was just now starting to realize his life lacked so badly. As much as he knew that Even was a good person, he couldn’t help but start to feel like he was being played with, strung along, teased with something wonderful when he knew it was out of his reach.

So, by the time Even stopped on the trail ahead of him, almost making Isak run into his back since he’d been focusing on his feet and where to put them to avoid the roots and rocks in the path, Isak was feeling a bit grumpy.

He stood there, staring at Even’s broad back with a frown as he waited for him to explain why the hell he’d just stopped. Before he could ask, Even huffed a sigh and turned around, his eyes finding each member of the group to make sure they were all there to hear him.

“So, it looks like the weather’s going to take a turn for the worse. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get to our target spot before it breaks, so I think we should play it safe and find a suitable spot nearby instead.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Isak tilted his head up to see that the sky had indeed darkened further.

It didn’t take long before they’d found a patch of forest with enough clear ground to set up their tents, though it wasn’t ideal. Before doing anything else, they hurried to fashion a makeshift awning that they could build a fire under, protecting it at least somewhat from the rain. Once they’d tied up a small tarp between four trees, Even started dividing everyone up into tasks so they could do everything necessary to prepare as efficiently as possible.

“Okay, Eva and Magnus, you two start setting up the tents, and Mahdi and Jonas, you guys collect dry firewood – and remember, get lots of kindling; you always need more than you think you will. Isak and I will run to the nearest stream and collect the water for tonight.”

Isak wanted to protest at being paired with Even of all people, but Even’s voice had an authoritative tone to it that did not brook argument.

Even led the way, seemingly instinctively knowing how to find the nearest stream, although Isak knew by now that it was really the result of a wide body of knowledge and particular skills that allowed him to understand the landscape enough to navigate it in this way. Now that they’d made the decision to camp somewhere closer, they weren’t in as much of a hurry – the clouds overhead seemed to suggest that they had a while before the rain started, so Even seemed more relaxed as they wove their way back down the mountainside, more like his usual playful self.

Unfortunately for both of them, Isak was far from being in the mood for Even’s banter today, still flustered and confused from that morning and getting close to the end of his rope. Isak still responded to Even’s flirtatious remarks with a blush, he couldn’t help it, but now it was paired with a grumpy scowl and an eyeroll, occasionally a snappy remark. Even seemed to notice, looking a little discouraged, but he didn’t stop trying to lighten the mood.

The thing about weather is that, no matter how familiar you become with its patterns and indicators, it remains stubbornly mercurial. It can’t ever truly be predicted. So, while Even may have spent quite a bit of time learning how to predict when a storm will break, it wasn’t entirely surprising when, just as they reached the stream, the sky broke open. The rain didn’t come gradually or gently; it poured down on them almost instantly, making them both wince as the fat drops hit their unprotected heads.

They both cursed, looked at each other briefly, neither one sure what the game plan was, but when a crack of thunder rang out above them, they silently agreed to ditch the plan and get to some kind of shelter.

They scrambled back up the rocky side of the stream, feet slipping and sliding. Isak had just gotten his footing back on the forest floor when Even scanned around them and then reached back, grabbing Isak’s hand and pulling him along behind him.

Even dragged them to a large pine, one that was mature enough to have a thick canopy of well-needled branches, providing decent cover from the rain. Once he stopped, Isak dropped his hand like it was burning him, too flustered to cover it up.

They were both soaked to the bone, panting, and Even was laughing.

Isak stared at him incredulously, unsure what could be funny about this shitty situation, where they were wet and cold and caught outside in a storm, trapped until it let up.

When Even looked at him, his laughter trailed off, his eyes softening into something else entirely, something that made Isak feel exposed and vulnerable.

“Look at you,” he chuckled fondly, taking in Isak’s drenched appearance. “Like a wet dog.”

Isak glared at him for the comment, but the glare soon dropped in a complete short-circuiting of his brain when Even reached out his hand and slowly, tenderly, pushed the hair plastered onto his forehead back out of his eyes. Isak didn’t breathe, couldn’t if he wanted to, as Even’s fingers just lingered there above his cheekbone, touching him as softly as you would touch the petals of a flower, and something in him just broke.

He stepped back, out of the range of Even’s touch, and went through a flurry of emotions in the course of a few seconds. Even was left with his hand hanging in the air, face confused and a bit worried, and Isak couldn’t take any more of this. It felt so good to be the object of Even’s attention, and it hurt so much to know he couldn’t have it, and to have it waved in his face nonetheless, and suddenly he was filled with anger.

“What the fuck are you doing, Even?” he burst out, and once he’d opened the gates he couldn’t stop himself. “Just cut the shit, okay? All of it. You can’t just go around doing sweet romantic stuff like that, flirting with me all the time and being all nice and smart and…” he waved his hands around wildly, “…you. You’re just making me like you more and more and acting like something could actually happen and you – you can’t _do_ that when you have a girlfriend.”

Throughout the whole rant, Even looked shocked and guilty and sad, but at the last statement, his expression switched to one of confusion.

“Huh?”

That wasn’t the reaction Isak was expecting. There was an awkward pause. “…What?”

“When I have a girlfriend?”

The more seconds passed, the more Isak started to feel confused, and kind of embarrassed, his anger deflating. He shuffled on his feet, feeling his cheeks heating up, and he stuttered in frustration.

“…That – that girl, on your facebook page…your girlfriend?”

Even just continued to stare at him, raising his eyebrows. “Short blonde hair?”

Isak nodded, somewhat sheepishly.

Whatever Isak had expected to happen next, it was not for Even’s face to break out into a grin, for him to laugh, a more beautiful sound than any of his other laughs so far, and take two big strides until he was standing so close that Isak had to tilt his head up to meet his eyes, grabbing Isak’s face in both hands and kissing him soundly on the lips.

Isak didn’t even have time to react, couldn’t process what was happening and decide how to respond to it but his lips were responding nonetheless, softening automatically under Even’s.

When Even pulled back a too-short moment later, he didn’t go far, breathing heavily just a few inches from Isak’s lips with his big hands still framing his face, thumbs stroking his cheekbones as his eyes searched his face.

“I don’t have a girlfriend, Isak. Sonja and I broke up months ago, and we were growing apart for a long time before that. It was an amicable breakup and we were together for a long time so I just didn’t feel the need to take down the pictures of us together from social media. I assure you, I am very much single.”

“…Oh,” Isak murmured lamely.

Even was still grinning like a fool, and Isak felt a growing wave of embarrassment for getting this whole thing wrong, but mostly he just wanted to get to kiss Even again, and he was trying to figure out how to go about making that happen.

Luckily, Even took care of that for him a moment later, letting out a short laugh of disbelief and shaking his head before leaning back in and pressing his lips to Isak’s gently.

This kiss was soft, but not hesitant, and Isak melted into it, sighing involuntarily.

Isak was cold all over, but somehow Even’s lips were warm. They kissed, standing under the old pine tree, both drenched and shivering, raindrops slicking their lips as they moved against each other. The rain was only getting harder now, some of it making its way even through the thick tree branches and hitting them on their heads, landing on Isak’s forehead and dripping down the slope of his nose, but Isak didn’t notice.

Even’s lips were as soft and pillowy as they looked, and Isak let out a tiny moan as Even sucked on his bottom lip. He heard a sharp intake of breath from Even, and felt one of his hands migrate from his cheek back into his hair. He opened his mouth the moment he felt Even’s tongue swipe along his lip, not even trying to be coy at this point. He didn’t care if Even thought he was giving it up too easily because all he wanted was _more_. Besides, Even didn’t seem to mind too much, not according to the way he moaned deep in his throat and licked into Isak’s mouth, using the hand in his hair to tilt his head, angle him so he could get deeper.

Isak clutched onto the front of Even’s shirt, leaning into him heavily because he wasn’t entirely sure if he could stand on his own right now. He reveled in the feeling of their tongues stroking against each other, the way Even was holding his hair tightly and stroking his jaw with his other hand. He shuffled forwards a little, pressing himself against Even’s chest, even though it wasn’t really possible to get any closer.

When they finally had to break apart to gasp for air, Even kept his hold of him, leaning their foreheads together and laughing giddily, which Isak echoed back. He brought one arm down to wrap around Isak’s waist, keeping him close. Like he couldn’t stay away, he kept pressing short, sweet kisses to Isak’s mouth while they recovered, and Isak felt his heart swell.

“You’ve really thought I had a girlfriend this whole time?” he asked in disbelief.

Isak nodded, looking up sheepishly through his eyelashes. “Well, since the first night. After dinner I looked you up on facebook and…saw that.”

“Awww,” Even responded, dipping in to kiss him again and stroking his cheek with his thumb.

“I’ve been worrying you just weren’t interested, and maybe I was being a total unprofessional creep by continuing to flirt with you. But I just couldn’t help myself, honestly.”

“Wow,” Isak marveled, too happy to be annoyed at how much time he’d spent upset over nothing. “We’re idiots.”

Even laughed, throwing his head back. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

The rain took a while longer to let up enough for them to hike back to the campsite, a time Even took advantage of by kissing Isak into a daze, until both their mouths were red and swollen, then moving down to lay kisses on his neck, making him shiver and clutch Even’s shoulders harder.

It was with great reluctance that they finally separated themselves and started back through the woods, not wanting everyone else to start worrying about them, although they probably already had. To Isak’s pleasure, they didn’t break apart completely – Even kept ahold of his hand as they went, only letting go when the trail became difficult enough that they needed their hands free to balance as they navigated it.

Isak knew he was going to look flushed and flustered when they got there, that his lips were red and swollen; he could only hope his friends wouldn’t guess why. Not that he was opposed to them knowing that he’d had a hot makeout session with Even, but he wasn’t entirely sure what was going on with them yet and besides, it was embarrassing how hot and bothered he’d gotten from just a little kissing.

If Isak had had his way, they would have done a lot more than a little kissing under that tree; he’d been turned on enough that he pretty much would have let Even do anything, but Even hadn’t seemed to want to go any further. Well, that was a lie; he definitely _did_ seem like he wanted to, if his moans and grasping hands were any indication, but he kept holding himself back, forcing them to slow down.

Outside of his haze of lust, Isak could admit that maybe it wouldn’t have been the greatest idea for their first time doing anything together to be outside on the twig-covered ground under a tree in a storm. Still, he wasn’t exactly looking forward to getting through the rest of the night with his friends with blue balls. He only hoped there would be some way for them to get some more convenient time alone together soon, because he wasn’t sure if he could stand to wait very much longer.

The rest of the late-afternoon and evening was torture, and no, Isak was not being dramatic. Every time he caught Even’s eye there was a knowing glint behind it, a secret promise, and it made Isak’s heart flutter. The lingering glances, the ‘accidental’ touches, they were driving him crazy. All he wanted was to get Even alone again, to be close to him, to make something of the heat brewing between them. And on top of that, he wanted a chance to actually talk to him. He didn’t really know where they had left things, and the longer he went without clarifying what was going on, the antsier he got. 

The evening seemed to stretch on forever, not helped by the fact that the weather had forced them to stop hiking earlier in the day than they usually would, so there was quite a bit of time to kill before the sun went down.

In contrast to the previous nights, Isak was itching to get into his tent with Even, to share that space with him for the night. He waited through dinner impatiently, and as soon as it was dark enough to just barely justify it, he feigned a yawn, getting up and pretending to be exhausted from the day’s ordeal.

“I’m gonna head to bed early guys, see you in the morning.”

Before he turned around, he caught Even’s eye and subtly gave him a look that he hoped said something like _meet me in the tent, but hang back for a few minutes so it doesn’t look obvious._

Clearly, Even hadn’t gotten the message, because probably 20 minutes later Isak was lying on his back in the tent, staring at nothing, and Even still wasn’t there. He huffed, pouting even though no one was there to see. He could hear the faint chatter and occasional laughter coming from outside, see the warm flicker of the fire as it cast its light on the side of the tent. Even was probably being polite and responsible and all that, and _not_ leaving the group early to go secretly grope Isak in the pitch dark. It was annoying as hell.

It was Isak’s full intention to wait up until Even eventually came to bed, as he knew he would, so that they could take advantage of their time semi-alone together. But somehow, despite his brewing anxiety mixed with excitement and a fair portion of lingering horniness, Isak’s eyes slowly drooped closed against his volition and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

When he woke, it was to a hand gently shaking his shoulder, and a deep voice telling him to wake up. He groaned at being woken up, still too sleep-dazed to have any idea what was going on, and threw an arm over his face.

He heard a faint chuckle, which spurred him to finally crack his eyes open to barely make out Even’s face hovering over him in the faint moonlight.

“Hey,” he said, voice cracking with sleep.

“Hey,” Even mirrored, grinning and cocking his head. “You can obviously go back to sleep if you want, but I had a little idea and I kind of gathered some stuff for a little midnight star-gazing outing?”

At that, Isak was up and out of his sleeping bag in and instant, searching around for some actual pants to put on, because ‘midnight star-gazing’ sounded a lot to his ears like ‘a chance to lie on the ground with Even somewhere where his friends weren’t three meters away.’

Even muffled his laughter in his sleeve, trying not to wake anyone. “Hey, there’s no rush; don’t hurt yourself,” he chuckled, helpfully turning on a flashlight for Isak.

Isak would beg to differ, and he was dressed and ready in record time, only grabbing a coat when Even expressed concern that he would be chilly in the night air.

Even seemed to know exactly where he wanted to take them, leading Isak by the hand, his headlamp pointed down to light their way. There were a few close calls for both of them, nevertheless, getting caught on roots or tripping over rocks. Isak wondered aloud, teasingly, if going out in the middle of the wilderness at night with an inexperienced client was such a responsible thing to do, and if it weren’t pitch black he probably would have seen Even roll his eyes. Betraying his nonchalance, though, was the fact that Even gripped Isak’s hand tightly and caught him every time he stumbled, being careful to go first to pick out the safest path.

They reached the edge of the forest and passed it, getting to a patch of grass where the trees met the flatland of the valley, where their view of the sky would be unobstructed. Even reached into his bag and pulled out a blanket which he laid out on the ground and a small lantern which he turned on and set down next to it.

Isak’s body wanted to get back to touching Even as soon as possible, but his mind knew he wouldn’t forgive himself in the morning if he wasted this opportunity to talk to Even, went on without the explanations he needed. So when they both were lying down on the blanket next to each other, on their backs, arms touching, Isak crossed his hands on his stomach and stared up at the stars, the ones he now had names for, thanks to Even.

“So, there’s some stuff I sort of…need to know?” he started, shaking his head at his awkward phrasing. He heard the shuffling of Even turning his head to look at him, but he kept his gaze trained upwards. “Sorry, I phrased that weirdly. I just…”

He huffed a sigh, giving up on whatever introduction he’d been trying to give and deciding to just get to the point. He shifted onto his side, facing Even, and Even did the same. His face was lit by the dim, pale light of the lantern, and his expression was open and attentive. Whatever nerves Isak had been feeling largely melted away.

“What are we doing, here? Like, what do you want out of this? Is it like a one-time thing or…” he trailed off, but Even reached out to touch his cheek.

“I really like you a lot, Isak. I don’t want this to just be a one-time thing.”

Isak couldn’t help the stupid smile that took over his face.

Even echoed his smile and stroked the line of his jaw with his thumb. Then he took a deep breath, and his face got more serious.

“I need you to understand some things about me first, though. I’m bipolar, you know that. It’s not all of who I am, but it’s not just a little deal. Just because I’m good now doesn’t mean I always will be. And I get annoyed when people I love try to control me, or monitor me too much. Sometimes, it will get bad again, and that’s always going to be a part of my life.”

Isak gave it a moment, just so Even knew he was really hearing him, that he wasn’t brushing it off.

“Ok,” he nodded, playing with the hair at the nape of Even’s neck.

He swallowed, met Even’s gaze.

“I’ve been really lonely for a long time, so I’ll probably be kind of clingy and needy. I don’t have a lot of relationship history, and what experience I do have has been less than great, so I probably won’t be good at this, at least at first. I can be grumpy and sometimes I’m kind of a dick and sometimes I shut out the people who care about me.”

Even smiled, and stroked down the line of Isak’s nose with the tip of his pointer finger. “Ok,” he whispered.

After a while of lying there, staring at each other, Isak’s dumb brain decided it had to ruin the moment.

“So, like, is this the part where we have sex?” he asked bluntly.

Even laughed, clutching his stomach. “Isak, I didn’t take you out here just so I could fuck you; what kind of ungentlemanly scoundrel do you think I am?” he teased.

“But, uhh…would you be opposed to it?” He should probably be more tactful or seductive about this, but he wanted it too much to play games.

Even didn’t seem to mind, though, as Isak watched his eyes darken even as he let out a laugh.

“Fuck, you have no idea how much I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”

When Isak raised an eyebrow, almost in challenge, Even took his hand and guided it down to press it against his crotch, where Isak could feel how hard – and, fuck, _big_ – he was in his hiking pants. Isak gulped and stifled a moan from just that before shifting closer and tilting his chin up, hoping for a kiss but a little too shy to take one just yet. Luckily for him, Even obliged, removing his hand from Isak’s to cup his face and take his mouth in a deep, dirty kiss that had Isak flushed and panting by the end of it.

Isak kept his hand where Even had placed it, feeling the hard bulge there with increasing boldness. His eyes shot open wide when he cupped it in his hand and fully felt the outline of Even’s dick, and Isak bit his lip at the mere thought of getting _that_ inside him. At least, he hoped that’s where this was heading. Hoping to speed things up as Even ducked down to press hot kisses to the tender skin of his neck, Isak ground the heel of his palm into Even’s dick, starting to rub him through his pants. He relished the hiss Even released against his neck, laughing a little when his breath tickled him.

“Fuck, Isak,” Even groaned, pressing his face into the space where Isak’s neck met his shoulder. “You’re gonna kill me. We’ve barely even started and I’m way too worked up.”

Isak grabbed his chin and pulled it up so that he could fix Even with a raised-eyebrow gaze.

“Even. Believe me, you are not the one getting too worked up here. Please, for the love of god, just touch me; we don’t need to go slow, nobody’s stopping us.”

That seemed to be the last straw for Even, as he searched Isak’s face with lust and wonder, like he couldn’t believe he was real but since he was, he wanted to devour him whole, before launching at him with a growl.

The weight of Even on top of him, pressing him down into the blanket, had Isak squirming and bucking his hips, desperate.

“Shhh,” Even whispered, stroking at his hip under his shirt, and kissed right below the juncture of Isak’s jaw, like he somehow knew that was the spot that would make Isak melt instantly and go completely pliant. “I’m gonna take care of you.”

Isak nodded frantically, eyelids heavy. He trusted Even to make him feel good, knew he would. At this point, Even could do pretty much anything to him and he’d go wild for it.

Even started kissing and licking down the column of his throat, while his hand was snaking its way under Isak’s shirt, swiping over his side, the skin of his stomach, feeling his ribs. Suddenly, Isak felt way too hot, despite the chilly night. He whined as Even was nipping along his collarbone, tugging at his jacket in an attempt to signal that he wanted both of their clothes off, pronto.

Apparently getting the message, Even sat up, kneeling with one leg on either side of Isak’s thigh, and shucked off his jacket before reaching forward to pull Isak’s shirt up to his armpits, exposing his torso to the air. Isak sucked in a gasp at the cold against his overheated skin, feeling his nipples pebbling already, and lifted his arms up, straining upwards to help Even get his shirt off.

Rather than throw it off to the side somewhere, Even carefully placed Isak’s shirt over in the corner of their blanket, and despite his frustration at the pace they were going, Isak found the deliberate considerateness of the gesture made him smile and blush.

“Really? I had my tongue halfway down your throat just a minute ago and me folding your shirt is what makes you blush?” Even teased, beaming down at him.

“Shut up,” Isak grumbled, rolling his eyes, and grabbed Even’s shoulders to pull him down against his chest; he was starting to get cold now without Even’s warmth.

“Wait, no!” he exclaimed, pushing Even’ back up by his chest, and Even blinked at him in confusion. “Take these off first,” he instructed, tugging at the waistband of Even’s pants.

Even smirked and did as he was told, getting off Isak in order to get his shoes and pants off, and Isak pouted at his absence even though he knew he’d technically explicitly asked for it. When Even knelt back down next to him in only his boxers, Isak peeled his gaze away for long enough to see Even’s kind, careful expression as he placed a hand questioningly on the hem of Isak’s sweatpants.

“Can I?” he asked, and Isak nodded, biting his lip against the swell in his heart that Even’s tenderness evoked.

Even shuffled down to Isak’s feet to unlace his boots and take them off his feet, along with his socks, giggling when Isak wiggled his toes at him. Any hint of Isak’s playful attitude dropped, however, when Even finally reached up and tugged Isak’s pants down his hips and off. This was really happening, and he was so hard, and so fucking ready.

Once Isak was lying there, naked except for his boxers, he breathed heavily under Even’s hot gaze trailing up and down his body. Even licked his lips – actually _licked his lips, _for fuck’s sake – before meeting Isak’s eyes again, and Isak nearly choked on his own saliva.

When Even moved over him, Isak’s thighs fell open automatically, making room for Even to settle between them. Even’s weight was on him again and it settled him, let him melt into the pleasure he was feeling, soothing his desperation. When Even started rolling his hips, grinding his clothed dick against Isak’s, Isak stopped breathing for a moment and his eyes rolled back in his head. It felt like so much and at the same time not nearly enough, and the slow pace drove him wild with want. Even kissed him thoroughly, making sure his lips were sufficiently pink and wet and swollen before he moved downwards, kissing down Isak’s neck and chest, flicking his tongue over one nipple just to see Isak jump before continuing on down his stomach and stopping at his hipbone, where he sucked a mark.

“What do you want, baby?” he asked softly, resting his chin on Isak’s belly and gazing up at him intently.

“You,” Isak breathed, “I want you inside me, please, please Even.”

Even moaned into his skin, fingers gripping Isak’s thighs hard.

“Yeah, fuck, yeah okay baby.”

Isak was about to complain when Even crawled exactly the wrong direction back up his body to kiss him again, but any protest died in his throat when he felt Even’s hand slip into his boxers and wrap around his dick, stroking firmly. His mouth fell open, releasing a breathless moan into Even’s mouth. He couldn’t stop his hips from bucking into the touch, his eyes fluttering closed in pleasure.

“Oh god, Even,” he groaned, gasping when Even swiped his thumb over his tip, collecting the precum there.

Before he knew it, Even was removing his hand, kissing Isak’s cheek, and getting off of him momentarily to reach into his bag and dig around in it. What Even pulled out appeared to be two small objects, which Isak could only identify as a condom and mini bottle of lube in the low light when Even came back and placed them on the blanket next to him.

Scooting down so he was next to Isak’s knees, Even grabbed the hem of his boxers and, after a glance up at Isak to make sure it was okay, worked them down over his hips and off his legs, placing them to the side with his shirt. Isak should have been shivering now that he was completely bare, but he felt hot under Even’s gaze.

“Open your legs for me, angel,” he instructed, stroking Isak’s thigh, encouraging him. Isak didn’t need to be told twice, and Even kneeled between his legs. He stared for a moment, then dipped down, like he just couldn’t help himself, kissing the pale skin right above Isak’s cock, then down at the sensitive juncture between his leg and groin, teasing.

Isak was close to just grabbing the lube and doing it himself when Even finally took the bottle an uncapped it, spreading a good amount on his fingers and rubbing them around to warm it up.

When he bent down, pushing Isak’s thighs up and even further apart to expose his hole, he let out a low moan, his eyes hungry.

“Fuck, Isak, look at you,” he muttered.

Finally, fucking _finally_, Even touched him, just swiping his fingers over his hole, getting him wet. It wasn’t nearly enough, but it was enough to make Isak whine high in the back of his throat and buck his hips back, chasing Even’s fingers.

“Ok, ok,” Even soothed, rubbing his calf with his dry hand. Isak felt his fingertip tease at his entrance, just rubbing at it to relax the tight ring of muscle before carefully pushing in.

It was just one finger, but it was so _long_, Isak took a deep shuddery breath when his whole finger had slid in, touching deeper inside of him than he had expected. It felt like his nerves were sparking, coming to life at Even’s touch as he moved his finger back and forth, exploring inside of him.

Isak opened his eyes, just enough to gaze down at Even through hooded eyelids. The look on Even’s face as he watched his finger disappear inside of Isak, the way he bit his plush lower lip and clenched his jaw, was something Isak wanted ingrained in his memory forever. Seeming to sense his eyes on him, Even broke his careful observation and looked up to Isak’s face. Whatever he saw seemed to flip a switch in him, turning him desperate. He leaned forward, repositioning himself so he was hovering over Isak, pressed against him, propped on his elbow next to Isak’s head while he continued to finger him.

Even gently inserted another finger, kissing all over Isak’s face and neck as he did, scissoring them and stretching him out. He pulled back, intently watching Isak’s face, monitoring his expressions as he searched around inside of him, looking for that special spot that would make Isak scream. When he found it, Isak’s whole body jerked and he let out a loud, long moan, his hand flying down to grab Even’s wrist like he wanted to make sure he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Yeah?” Even smiled, nipping at Isak’s jaw. “’S that feel good baby?”

Isak nodded frantically while Even worked his fingers expertly, fingertips rubbing his prostate until he was shaking and moaning brokenly.

“Fuck, Even, oh my god, I’m ready, c’mon,” he panted, grabbing at Even’s shoulder, trying to pull him closer, but Even resisted.

“Isak, I’m a lot bigger than two fingers; I don’t want to hurt you.”

Isak whined, squirming, and Even kissed him sweetly.

“Just a while longer, gonna get you good and open, okay?”

Nodding, Isak let out a shaky breath as Even added a third finger and thrust them in and out slowly. He soothed Isak with his mouth, kissing him deeply while continuing to open him up, targeting his spot every few strokes until Isak was rolling his hips, riding his fingers desperately.

When Even at last seemed to deem Isak suitably prepared, he carefully pulled his fingers out, wiping them on the blanket. Isak had to bite his lip to hold back a whine at the emptiness left behind. Even momentarily disappeared from on top of him to slide off his boxers, and when Isak finally got a glimpse of Even’s dick unobstructed, he was thankful that Even had been so insistent on stretching him. He watched hungrily as Even stroked himself a few times.

Even shuffled over to lie himself back down over Isak, the feeling of their fully naked skin pressing together for the first time making them both gasp. He framed his arms around Isak’s head, cradling it in his hands and stroking his hair. In a tender moment, Even smiled and rubbed the tip of Isak’s nose against his own, making Isak wind his arms around his shoulders to bring him closer. Even’s solid weight on top of him felt so good, as did the way they were both sort of unconsciously grinding against each other, keeping the momentum of their desire going while they took this quiet moment.

Slowly, like he was in no hurry at all, Even kissed Isak’s cheek, jaw, neck, and temple before taking his lips. Isak’s lips parted immediately, letting Even taste him, hot and wet and thorough. While kissing him, Even’s hands were hard at work too, stroking up and down his ribs, thumbing over his nipples, caressing his neck and stroking his thumb along the underside of his jaw. By the time Even was finished, Isak was so entranced and pliant that he couldn’t even plead Even to fuck him already; he could just lie there and take whatever Even gave him, because he knew it would be specially designed to drown him in pleasure.

Luckily, he didn’t have to beg, as Even leaned back far enough to make eye contact, making sure Isak was lucid and paying attention to him before he spoke.

“Ready?” he asked, and Isak nodded with a dazed look in his eye.

He held on to one of Even’s wrists, not wanting to let him go completely, as Even sat up to open the condom and roll it on over his leaking cock. Isak made a mental note to make sure he got to have that in his mouth sometime soon. Even cracked open the lube and poured some more into his palm, then slicked up his dick before wiping his hands off on the blanket and throwing the bottle to the side.

Even grabbed Isak’s thighs, pulling him towards him until their hips were flush, wrinkling up the blanket beneath him. He ran his hands from Isak’s thighs to his waist, and all the way up his sides until he was cupping his face. Thumbing at Isak’s lower lip, he gave him a dirty kiss before sitting back up on his knees and gripping his cock, pressing the head against Isak’s hole.

Isak gasped at the blunt pressure, momentarily closing his eyes, relishing the feeling of being on the verge of being filled so well. Once the thick head of Even’s cock breached him, Isak’s hand flew down to Even’s thigh, just gripping it, digging in with his fingernails because it was already so much, so good. He pushed in slowly, stopping when he was about halfway to give Isak a moment to adjust. Even’s hands were all over him while he waited, not staying still for a moment, leaving trails of goosebumps in their path.

After taking a few deep breaths and focusing on relaxing, he started shifting his hips experimentally, rocking them back and forth a little and letting out a low shuddering moan at the feeling of Even’s length shifting inside him. Taking that as his cue, Even’s hands returned to their grip on his hips and he started pushing the rest of the way in until he was fully seated, bottoming out with a punched-out groan.

Isak whimpered involuntarily, overwhelmed by how good it felt to be filled and stretched so much, to have Even as close to him as he could be. Even dropped down on top of him, lips latching on to his neck and teasing the skin in his most sensitive places to pull him apart even more thoroughly.

“You feel so fucking good,” Even murmured, nuzzling at the warm space under Isak’s ear.

Unable to respond, Isak just hiked his legs up, wrapping them around Even’s waist and using them to pull him in, to encourage him to start moving.

Apparently getting the message, Even started to rock his hips, not pulling out but just creating a slow, deep grind that had Isak seeing stars from the way his cock was rubbing back and forth over his prostate.

“Even,” Isak moaned, arching his back.

“Yeah?” Even panted, but Isak didn’t respond, had just needed to say his name.

Just when it was almost getting to be too much, the constant pressure and agonizingly slow pace, Even pulled out about halfway and thrust back in, making Isak’s hands scramble across his back, probably leaving pink trails with his fingernails.

Even worked his pace up steadily, until Isak was moaning non-stop and begging for him to go harder, faster. Even complied, reaching so deep inside him that Isak could hardly catch his breath. True to character, Even remained incredibly attentive, even as they both climbed towards the peaks of their pleasure. His hands moved over Isak’s skin softly, in contrast with his hard thrusts, and he repeatedly asked Isak how it felt in between kisses to his mouth or neck or shoulder, which Isak always answered merely by moaning louder.

When Isak got close, his breath started coming in little hiccups, sharp “_ah, ah, ah_”s being punched out of him, rising in pitch as the coil in his belly tightened. He could tell Even was close too, with the way he was groaning and losing his tempo a little.

Raising himself up on one arm, Even grabbed one of Isak’s thighs with his other hand and hiked it up, pressing it against his chest and holding him spread wide as he targeted Isak’s spot with sharp precision.

His orgasm hit him before he was expecting it, before he’d even had a chance to get a hand on himself to help it along. He let out a loud cry that echoed in the quiet, empty night and spilled all over himself, streaking his own stomach with come. Even was apparently as surprised as Isak was, managing a “_Fuck, Isak,_” when he clenched around him before giving a few more frenzied thrusts and emptying into the condom. Isak couldn’t help but wish there wasn’t anything separating them, wondering what it would feel like to have Even mark him on the inside like that. He gave a shudder at the thought, his cock twitching despite being very much down for the count.

Even released Isak’s thigh and gingerly pulled out before slumping down on top of Isak, face buried in his chest as they both caught their breath for a minute.

“Fuck,” Isak breathed, panting and throwing an arm over his forehead as Even flopped onto his back beside him. He yawned, completely exhausted – he actually wasn’t sure how he hadn’t already fallen asleep, but then he remembered that they had to hike back to the campsite and groaned.

Even wrapped an arm around him, pulling him in so that Isak was cradled in the crook of his arm, head on his chest.

“That was amazing,” he murmured, stroking Isak’s cheek with his thumb. “You’re amazing.”

Isak smiled up at him, blinking slowly, having a hard time getting his eyes to open back up each time. Even chuckled.

“It’s okay baby, just nap here for a while; I’ll wake you up and then we can go back to the camp once you’ve had a little rest okay?”

Isak wanted to turn down the offer and say he was fine with getting up and dressed and exerting himself right now, but who was he fooling, anyway. So he just nodded and nuzzled further into Even’s chest, letting Even pull a warm blanket over them and tuck it in tightly so that between the blanket and their shared body heat, they weren’t too cold.

When Even woke him, it was with a hand stroking in his hair and feather-light kisses on his cheek. Isak groaned and pouted, grabbing the blanket and pulling it over his face, to which Even laughed and pulled him closer.

“I’m sorry. We can’t sleep out here.” He peeled back the blanket to peer down at Isak. “I can carry you there if you want,” he joked, and Isak scoffed.

“Yeah, you’d better. I don’t know how I’m expected to walk right now.”

Even finally resorted to tickling him until he scrambled away and agreed to get dressed. They both pulled their clothes back on quickly, chilly now that they weren’t warming each other. Even exchanged the light of the lantern for his headlamp again, hoisting his backpack onto his back once he’d packed everything up, and holding out his hand for Isak to take.

Despite his sleepy haze, on the way there, Isak was struck by a realization.

“Hey, did you seriously bring lube and a condom on this backpacking trip?!” he asked Even.

It was hard to tell in the darkness, but he could have sworn Even blushed, looking sheepish and shrugging his shoulders.

“Well, I just…we kind of really clicked that first night at dinner and I thought…maybe better to be safe than sorry?”

Isak laughed, stopping in their path momentarily. “Wow, you were pretty confident I was a sure thing, huh?” he teased, rolling his eyes and pulling Even along as he scrambled to defend himself.

Isak yawned as they walked, unsure how he was going to have the energy for their long trek tomorrow – not to mention the soreness he was sure he would have in the morning – but he found he just really couldn’t bring himself to care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY. It's been so hard not to post this chapter like immediately after I posted the first one lmao. I have no patience. But at at last, our boys got their shit together (I mean, at least for now). Hooray!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow sorry for the delay on this one y'all, I meant to post it last Monday but grad school kicked my ass many days in a row. Anyway, here we finally go with the next chapter, in which there is cuddling and sweetness and campfire tales, and also more sex because past me writing this had no chill apparently. Enjoy!

The next morning came far too soon, but the blow was considerably softened by the fact that Isak woke to the feeling of Even’s plush lips on his neck, pressing soft kisses all along it. Once he came to a bit further, he became aware of Even’s hand, too, resting on his stomach and stroking the skin under his shirt softly.

His first reaction was to smile and turn in to the touch, relishing the feeling. He stretched, feeling how pleasantly sore his muscles were from the day before, and he felt Even smile against his neck as he sucked a bruise there.

“Morning,” Even whispered in his ear, voice rough. He took Isak’s earlobe in his mouth, nipping it lightly, making Isak shiver and let out a soft moan. As soon as he did, his eyes flew open and he clamped his mouth shut to avoid making any more noises, remembering that his friends were all right next to them. He could hear the shuffling sounds of people moving around, and the occasional voices outside, letting him know that at least some of them were already awake.

Even was undeterred, kissing along his jaw now, snaking an arm around his waist to pull him closer.

“Even, we can’t,” Isak whispered. “Everyone’s right outside, and if you learned anything from last night, it should’ve been that I’m loud in bed.”

Even pulled back, making Isak want to whine at the lack of his warmth, even though he’d technically asked for it. He hummed, thoughtful, before pushing himself up and pulling on some pants, awkwardly hunched over in the small tent.

Before Isak could ask where he was going, Even was out of the tent, zipping it up behind him.

A few moments later, he heard the muffled murmuring of voices, subdued and sleepy but cheerful nonetheless. He almost fell back asleep waiting for Even to come back, lulled by the soft light diffused through the tent walls. It was an indeterminate time later when he was alerted to Even’s return by the sound of the tent unzipping before Even stumbled in and fell back into his spot beside Isak.

“What did you do?” Isak asked.

“Came up with an errand to send your friends on so they’ll be out of earshot for a while,” he murmured into Isak’s mouth, already leaning in to kiss him.

Isak’s laugh was cut short in exchange for a moan when their tongues met, and his hand came up to wind its way into Even’s hair, gripping tightly.

He wasn’t sure how it was possible to still be so easily set on fire by Even’s touch when it had been only a few hours since they had last been together. He also wasn’t sure if they were going to just spend the rest of this trip having sex whenever possible, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.

Their lips separated with an obscene smack, and Even’s eyes travelled over his face with an expression that he couldn’t place, but that made him blush and a warmth grow in the pit of his belly.

“Will you let me make you feel good?” Even whispered.

Isak couldn’t do anything but nod, open-mouthed and hazy-eyed.

“Roll over baby,” he instructed, and Isak complied without really thinking about it, heavy-limbed and ungraceful.

The first thing he felt was Even pulling off his shirt, then pulling down his sweatpants and boxers, leaving Isak face-down and bare. Isak wasn’t sure what Even was doing, didn’t know what to expect next, so he shivered slightly in anticipation when he felt Even’s hands land on his ass, spread wide over his cheeks and squeezing, spreading them apart. He felt exposed and open, burying his face in his arms in embarrassment, knowing that Even was displaying his most private place.

Suddenly, Isak felt a wet heat against his hole and gasped, grabbing on to the sleeping bag beneath him. What he now realized was Even’s tongue swept wide and flat against him, lighting up his sensitive nerves in a sensation he’d never experienced before. He tried to close his legs automatically, overwhelmed by the sharp pleasure, but Even stopped him with firm hands spreading his thighs apart.

He dove back in, this time pointing his tongue and giving little licks right to his rim, and Isak shivered and keened, bucking back into the touch. He’d never been rimmed before, had always been curious about it but none of the guys he’d been with before had been into it. Now he couldn’t believe what he’d been missing out on. Either Even was really, really good at this, or Isak just really loved getting his ass eaten. Probably a bit of both.

It was a good thing Even had conveniently sent everyone away, because Isak had no chance of holding back his moans and high whimpers as Even continued. He tried to muffle himself in the sleeping bag below him until Even pulled back.

“Don’t, baby, I wanna hear you,” he panted, voice rough and low, and Isak gladly did.

Soon, Even’s tongue was prodding at his entrance, then actually dipping inside, and _holy shit oh my god what the fuck_. Isak keened, arching his back further to push back on Even’s face, a hand flying back to tangle in his hair to make sure he didn’t go anywhere.

He felt more than heard Even chuckle a little, but he didn’t stop, thank god, doubling down his efforts and fucking him with his tongue, using his hands to keep him spread wide.

“Even, fuck, oh my god, please,” he cried, eyes screwed shut.

“What, angel, what do you need?”

“I-…I-…” Isak couldn’t sort through his own thoughts, couldn’t climb his way out of the pleasure he was experiencing, he just knew he needed _something_ because this was driving him wild.

“Okay, okay, I’ve got you,” Even comforted, licking over his hole once more before Isak felt a finger sliding into him easily.

He gave a choked off moan a moment later when Even added a second finger, Isak still nice and loose from last night and wet from Even’s mouth. It was just what he needed, the feeling of being filled, and his eyes rolled back in his head when Even returned to licking and sucking at his rim around his fingers.

Quickly, Even found his prostate and targeted it gently, thrusting his fingers in and out and rubbing inside in soft circles. Isak was falling apart, losing himself to his pleasure, not thinking, just rocking back against Even’s fingers and mouth and moaning, loud and unabashed.

“You’re close already, huh?” Even mused, and he was, even though they’d barely just started. “I’ll keep that in mind for later, then.” Isak could feel Even’s smirk as he dove back in.

When Even suddenly forced his tongue in alongside his fingers, at the same time as hitting his prostate dead center, Isak’s whole body tensed and he came with a sharp cry all over his sleeping bag, shuddering as he came down. Even slowly continued pumping his fingers, drawing them out gently when he jerked with oversensitivity.

Even let go of his thigh and sat up, starting to shuffle over like he was going to lie down next to Isak, but Isak stopped him.

“Come on me,” he said as his eyes were still blinking open slowly, catching his breath and coming back down to earth.

“What?” came Even’s surprised and somewhat strained voice.

“Come on me,” Isak repeated, hiking one of his legs up, presenting himself as a willing canvas.

“Holy shit,” Even groaned, “Yeah, okay.”

Isak could hear the sound of Even jerking himself off quickly behind him, the ramping up in his breath when he was close, the soft moan when he spilled over Isak’s ass, across his hole.

Even flopped down next to him and stared at him with a blissed out smile, which Isak returned.

“I didn’t know I would like that so much,” Isak whispered blushing. Even stroked his cheek.

“I’m glad you did. God, the noises you make, Isak…Shit. We can’t get ourselves worked up again.”

Isak laughed, then tilted his chin up for a kiss, which Even delivered.

“Well now you’ve got me all sleepy, how am I supposed to get up now?” Isak glared playfully, huffing.

“Mmm, I wish we could just lie here all day,” Even mused. “Get over here, we still have a few minutes to cuddle, since you came so fast.”

“Hey!” Isak exclaimed, smacking Even’s chest as he laughed, pulling him into his arms.

Sadly, they were rudely removed from their cozy bubble of post-coital comfort when the gang came back and they had to get back into their clothes and rise to greet the day. As they clambered out of the tent, they were greeted by weird looks from the others, who were busying themselves with taking down their tents and packing up for the day. Isak figured they must just look a little disheveled still, and self-consciously ran his fingers through his hair, trying to smooth it down.

It wasn’t until Magnus noticed that they’d come out and his face lit up with mirthful glee that he instantly got worried. Magnus looking like that was never good news for him.

“Dude! Isak, oh my god, I have _never_ heard someone that loud during sex!”

Isak’s mouth dropped in shock, and he was starting to incredulously ask what he was talking about when Mahdi chimed in too.

“Yeah, I mean congrats on the sex, but what the fuck?”

“I-…who-what-,” Isak couldn’t do anything but flounder, feeling himself already blushing furiously. He looked to each of his friends in turn, hoping at least one of them would say they were joking or something, but when he got to Jonas’s apologetic, slightly grimacing face, he knew he was out of luck. He whipped around to stare at Even accusingly, who didn’t look nearly as ashamed as he should have – mostly just amused, and maybe even a little smug.

He shrugged. “Don’t look at me; I sent them away like I said.”

Mahdi scoffed. “Yeah, but you were like, echoing through the whole valley! I’m pretty sure you woke up the caribou, man!”

Magnus cackled, clutching his stomach. “It was like a dying cat or something, holy shit!”

Now even Eva was giggling, trying to hide it behind her hand, but failing miserably. “That’s not really fair,” she said through her laughter, “I mean, he at least sounded like a dying _human_.”

Isak was completely mortified, and Even was just laughing his ass off beside him until he was bent over and wheezing.

“How is this funny?!” Isak exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

“It’s not, bro; I’m never going to be able to look at you the same way again,” Mahdi said, his laugh betraying him.

“Sorry, sorry,” Even said, recovering enough to come up next to Isak and wrap his arms around his shoulders, squeezing him. Isak begrudgingly accepted the hug, and definitely did not lean into it a little. “Guys, stop making fun of him. I’ll have you know that I find it very hot how loud Isak is in bed. So there.”

“Yeah, don’t give me shit just ‘cause you two aren’t getting any!” Isak yelled, pouting.

“Hey!” Magnus exclaimed, offended.

“Okay, okay, let’s play nice everybody,” Even intervened. “Sorry guys, I didn’t mean to traumatize you; I really thought you’d be far enough away not to hear. I guess I didn’t take into account how things echo in the forest.”

“Wait,” Magnus spoke up, “are we all congratulating this guy on cheating on his girlfriend?!”

Isak tensed, ready to snap at Magnus, but Even responded calmly. “I don’t have a girlfriend. It was a misunderstanding,” he explained.

Eva cheered at that. “Thank god, Issy’s moping was really getting old.” She winked at Isak, and he rolled his eyes at her, really having had enough with the teasing for today.

“Alright people, nothing to see here, chop chop,” Isak clapped his hands and shooed at them until everyone dispersed to get back to work and get their day started. He looked back at Even, sighing and raising his eyebrows, which Even smiled at. His blush was probably just starting to fade, and he was still thoroughly embarrassed, but he had to admit his friends had been pretty cool about it, and at least they knew now.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Even said softly, rubbing his arm. “And look at the bright side – I can do this now!” Even kissed him on the cheek, out in the open, before walking off with a wink and a smirk.

It turned out that when Isak had mused that it might be a bit uncomfortable to hike for miles the day after his and Even’s…_activities_, and with a lack of sleep to boot, he had way underestimated. By lunchtime, he was sore and exhausted, dragging his feet, and they weren’t even halfway there. Because of this, he’d been lagging behind the rest of the group a bit, always ending up at the back, far from where Even usually was taking up the lead. It was ridiculous, but he kind of missed him already, even though it had only been a few hours since they’d been curled up with each other, and even though Even was never more than a few meters away.

As if he sensed this, Even starting purposefully hanging back to walk with Isak, keeping him company. He greeted him with a grin and a shoulder bump, seeming in much better shape than Isak, despite having gotten the same amount of sleep, which just wasn’t fair at all. Still, Isak couldn’t help his little smile and blush at the fact that Even wanted to be close to him. He was happy he didn’t have to hide that they were a thing now, that he could hold Even’s hand when he wanted to and rest his head on his shoulder when he was tiredly munching on his granola bar as they took a rest.

They were making their way along the edge of the mountains, now, following their contours along the side of the valley, which would eventually bring them back to where they had started. This was the part where their distance travelled per day was most important, because they had quite a bit of ground to cover in the two days left. It was also the part with some of the most spectacular views, as the forest thinned and the whole expanse of the valley and the majestic slopes framing it were in clear view throughout the hike. They could watch as caribou crossed the plain, munching on the grass, running in a close herd when something startled them.

As the day passed by and crept further and further towards evening, they were privy to the sight of the valley cast in the golden light of later-afternoon, which made the green grass look like a field of wheat and lit the mountain sides so that they seemed to be glowing. The group of them stopped to watch for a minute, just standing on the side of a mountain in silence, taking it all in. Isak smiled as Even came up behind him, wrapping his arms around Isak’s shoulders and pressing his cheek to his. He leaned into him, grateful for his warmth and the opportunity to take some of the load off of his fatigued legs, just for a moment. Throughout the course of this trip, Isak realized he had really come to appreciate the quiet of the wilderness. There was nothing clambering for his attention, cluttering his mind and making it hard to think. Everything seemed clear. He took a deep breath of the fresh, crisp air and laced his fingers with Even’s.

“Okay, _I’ve_ got a good idea,” Jonas said, which was not a statement that ever lead to anything good, in Isak’s estimation. “Let’s tell ghost stories. Eva has some really good ones.”

“Nooo,” Isak groaned, while everyone else enthusiastically expressed their agreement.

“Why not? It’s like the perfect campfire activity?” Magnus asked, waving around the empty bag of trail mix in his hand.

Isak shifted uncomfortably on the ground, pulling his blanket closer around him. “I dunno,” he shrugged. “Can’t we just…make s’mores or something? That’s just as much of a campfire activity!”

He heard Even laugh beside him, warm in his ear. “Isak, what exactly makes you think we have the ingredients for s’mores?”

“Well, don’t ask _me_ that! You’re the one in charge of this thing, so, clearly it was your job to bring the s’mores makings.”

Even laughed and pulled him against his side with an arm over his shoulder.

“Ok, I’ll be sure to bring some next time,” he said, kissing Isak’s temple.

“He’s just worried he’ll get scared,” Mahdi offered, and Isak whipped around to glare at him.

“I am _not_!” he protested.

“Oh yeah, you’re right, he totally is,” Jonas laughed. Isak was really regretting that time he admitted to Jonas that he hadn’t been able to sleep for a week after he and Eva had made him watch _The Shining_ with them.

“This is bullshit,” Isak grumbled, crossing his arms, while Even awwed and pulled him closer, rubbing his arm.

“It’s okay baby, I’ll protect you,” he cooed, making Isak roll his eyes as hard as possible and hope the low light from the fire was enough to hide his blush.

“Whatever, fine, tell your stupid stories. Just don’t expect me to participate.”

Eva started, and she was the master of scary-story-telling, so it was only a few minutes before Isak was starting to feel jumpy, his heart rate speeding. Even worse, this was one that he had heard before, so it shouldn’t have even been that scary. But he didn’t exactly have the fortitude for self-inflicted fright, and being outside in the middle of the mountains at night was absolutely not helping.

He found himself inching closer and closer to Even as the story progressed, his solid frame next to him making him feel just a little bit better. When Eva got to the end of the story, which was capped off with a loud “_BOO!_” meant to startle the audience, Isak nearly jumped out of his skin, despite having known what was coming.

Even chuckled and looked over at him with an inquisitive expression, raising his eyebrows, silently asking if Isak was alright. Isak smiled at him, though it probably wasn’t entirely convincing, since he was still tense all over and moments away from screaming at the slightest disturbance.

Everyone else seemed to be greatly enjoying themselves, and probably also getting a kick out of Isak’s reactions, the bastards. Isak sighed and resigned himself to a night of quite literally shaking in his boots.

Next up was Magnus, which Isak looked forward to as a much-needed reprieve. Magnus tried, he really did, but he was just too goofy to really make anything scary. This time, he seemed to be making up a story on the fly, something that sounded suspiciously like it was just what happened once at a party when he failed to hook up with a girl, with a murderer sort of vaguely thrown in the mix.

“Magnus, the only thing scary about this story is how bad your game is,” Isak scoffed, regretting his cockiness instantly when Mahdi fixed him with a mischievous smirk.

“Alright, Isak, if you want to pretend you’re all unaffected, why don’t I go next. I’ll show you what scary really is.”

Mahdi’s story was substantially more convincing, and Isak was really getting to the place where he was far too spooked for comfort. He was jumping at every little sound he thought he heard, every crackle of the firewood had his heart stopping momentarily. Obviously sensing his discomfort, Even subtly snaked his hand in between their pressed-together thighs to grab Isak’s, lacing their fingers together and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Finally, when he couldn’t take it anymore, Isak gave a huff, mumbled “fuck it,” and dropped Even’s hand in favor of scooting over and worming himself under Even’s arm, curling into his side. Even adjusted immediately, putting an arm around him and bringing him even closer, so that he was thoroughly cuddled. Isak pulled the blanket over both of them, wrapping them into a little burrito and shuffling around, getting comfortable until he had his head resting on Even’s shoulder and his arm around his waist.

It helped, more than he would have liked to admit, to have Even’s strong arms holding him and calming his nerves. He even started to enjoy the spooky vibes a little bit, although maybe it was just the association with being safely nestled in the warm crook of Even’s side. He didn’t even care that his friends were clearly eating this up and would no doubt tease him mercilessly for it later.

Mahdi’s story ended up being really scary, and by the time it was Jonas’s turn, Isak was clutching the front of Even’s shirt and practically hiding his face in Even’s armpit. Even took it a step further, pulling Isak in between his legs so he could lean back against his chest, totally encapsulated in the warmth and comfort of Even’s arms. Even buried his face in Isak’s hair, and he felt him smile.

“Aww, isn’t that just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?” came Eva’s voice, interrupting their bubble.

“Yeah, they’re adorable,” Jonas agreed, chuckling fondly.

“Shut up,” Isak grumbled halfheartedly.

He’d never realized how much he’d wanted this; how having someone to hold you and care about you, whose arms grounded you and held you close, made some things in the world so much easier to face.

At some point, Isak fell asleep, and the next time he woke up it was to Even gently helping him up and half-carrying him to their tent, where he promptly fell asleep again, warm in his sleeping bag with Even against his back, breathing softly on his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it but we're already almost at the end :'( There's one more chapter and then a short epilogue. Thank you so much to everyone who's read so far!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here we have the last chapter! Thank you so so much to everyone who has read this <3 I'll be posting a short epilogue in a day or two. Until then, we have some sexy shenanigans in the woods, Isak overthinking, the end of an adventure, and a much needed heart-to-heart.

It was a little ridiculous how Isak absolutely could not keep his eyes – or thoughts – off of Even today, considering the fact that they had been constantly within feet of each other for the past 24 hours, many of which were spent tangled together as closely as they could get. But hey, he was just making up for lost time, and there was a lot of it. He really couldn’t be blamed for getting flustered by the sight of Even today, looking particularly beautiful – hair wind-blown and cheeks sun-kissed, a light sheen of sweat on the triangle of chest revealed by his shirt. Basically, Even was hot, and Isak was salivating. And he was finally allowed to do something about it. The only problem was that they were currently busy hiking, which was not the ideal time or place to pull him off the trail and start making out with him.

It was making him pretty antsy throughout the day, but also in a good mood with the anticipation of when he and Even would eventually get a moment alone together again, whenever that happened. His friends seemed to appreciate the happy bubble he’d been floating in over the last couple of days; Jonas actually thanked Even for taking away Isak’s grumpiness. Isak decided he didn’t even mind the teasing, as long as he got to stay in this little honeymoon period.

They all somehow had a burst of energy today, despite it being their fifth full day of hiking. Even had attributed it to their fun group-bonding last night and suggested that they should all tell ghost stories more often, all while looking back at Isak and smirking mirthfully. This meant they ended up getting to their planned end-point for the day earlier than they usually would, so they had more time to set up their camp, didn’t have to hurry like they usually did to get dinner made before the sun went down.

When they found a good place to put up their tents, they all took the opportunity to have a little rest before getting to work. Magnus immediately flopped down on the grass, throwing his limbs out into starfish position and groaning.

“My feet are never going to be the same after this trip,” he complained.

Mahdi followed his example, sitting down and leaning back against a tree, sighing and closing his eyes against the dappled sunlight. “You know what would really be great right now? A hammock.”

“Damn, you’re right. Why didn’t we bring hammocks?” Magnus mused.

Their voices faded into the background as Isak and Even made eye contact across the space between them, and the connection was instant, like electricity arcing between two conductors, filling the air with heat as Even raised an eyebrow at him in question.

“Should we go get firewood?” Isak suggested, practically vibrating with excitement and probably not doing a good job of hiding it.

“Sounds good,” said Even hastily, already turning to leave before even confirming with the rest of them.

“Make sure to do it faaar away from here,” Jonas mumbled pointedly, rolling his eyes, and while Isak wanted to retort, he couldn’t really blame him – he was probably right.

Isak rushed to catch up with Even, both of them speedwalking until they were an appropriate distance away into the forest so that Isak could grab Even’s hand and take off with a giggle, dragging a bemused Even running behind him until they were far enough that Isak deemed it safe and screeched to a halt, whipping them around and pressing Even against a tree trunk so he could get up on his toes and kiss him.

Even smiled into the kiss and returned it instantly, wrapping his arms around Isak’s waist, crossing them on the small of his back and holding his hips loosely.

“Hi,” Even said, laughing, when Isak finally released his lips.

“Hi,” Isak replied, grinning like an idiot.

“What’s this for?” Even asked, rubbing their noses together.

Isak shrugged. “I missed you.”

“Awww,” Even cooed, leaning in to kiss him softly, sucking on his bottom lip and then kissing the corner of his mouth. “I missed you too baby. Even though we’ve been together all day.” Even winked.

“I’ve also been super fucking horny all day just from looking at you,” Isak said bluntly, shifting the tone instantly.

Even’s eyes widened and his grip around Isak’s waist got tighter. “Yeah?” he breathed, gaze darkening, flicking over Isak’s face.

Isak nodded, biting his lip. “Mmhmm. Couldn’t wait to get you inside me again, knew I had to get you alone as soon as I could.”

“Fuck,” Even groaned, pushing off of the tree and spinning them around so he could crowd Isak against it instead, kissing him deep, licking into his mouth. He moved down to Isak’s neck, sucking marks into it as he moved almost frantically, getting his hands on Isak’s waist under his shirt, gripping hard.

Leaving him with a nip on the collarbone, Even returned to his lips, pulling back and teasing, just barely letting their lips touch as he pressed Isak against the trunk, their whole fronts flat against each other. His hands migrated, one spreading wide and flat on the small of Isak’s back where it arched away from the trunk, the other sliding down the back of his pants, making Isak gasp wetly.

“Um, remember this morning when I stayed in the tent for a few more minutes after you got up?” he panted, choking on a tiny whimper as Even’s fingers found his hole, sweeping over it teasingly.

Even hummed, nosing at the soft spot under his jaw and grinding against him absently.

“I-uh, I fingered myself a little. C-couldn’t wait.”

His hand stilling, Even made a noise against his neck that was some combination of a groan and a growl, experimentally prodding at his hole and slipping a finger in to test if he was really open.

“Jesus, you’re insatiable,” he panted, before pulling back to unbutton Isak’s pants and push them down along with his boxers, just below the swell of his ass.

“So, uh, you don’t need to like, prep me. We can just…” Isak gulped as Even ground against him with purpose, making the bare skin of his ass scrape roughly against the bark behind him.

“I’m gonna take care of you,” he rumbled deep in Isak’s ear, bringing up two fingers and tapping them on Isak’s bottom lip. “Suck, baby,” he instructed.

Isak opened his mouth immediately and accepted Even’s fingers hungrily, getting them nice and wet, and groaning at the feeling of something filling up his mouth. When Even deemed them wet enough, he pulled them out, ignoring Isak’s chasing them with his lips, and pushed two fingers deep inside him without hesitation, making Isak keen and close his eyes, gripping Even’s shoulders and leaning forwards against him. He opened him up quickly and efficiently, but still targeting his prostate, just to make Isak’s knees buckle and his legs shake.

Once he was sure Isak would be comfortable, he detached himself from Isak fully, stepping back and making Isak whine and reach for him desperately, confused.

“Let’s take these off,” he said, tugging at the hem of Isak’s shirt before pulling it up, waiting for Isak to get the idea and raise his arms, and then pulling it off of him.

Next, he knelt down, confusing Isak for a second before he started tugging his pants down his legs and then encouraging him to pick up his foot so he could work them off over his boots while he balanced with his hands on Even’s shoulders.

If he was turned on before, now he was practically delirious with it, his heart racing from the risk of getting caught naked in the middle of the woods, no way they could cover up what they’d been doing if any of the others ended up wandering this way. Isak hadn’t realized he was an exhibitionist, but the vulnerability, the sheer _dirtiness_ of being completely naked, pressed against a tree in the wide open air while Even was fully clothed, was getting him harder than he could ever remember being.

“Oh shit,” Even groaned when he stood up, and not in the sexy way. “I-_shit_\- I don’t have a condom.”

Isak paused for a second, but only because he wasn’t sure how to say what he wanted.

“Uh, I…that’s-that’s okay. If, like, if it’s okay with you. I’m clean, and I haven’t been with anyone else in a long time. I kind of, uh, I’ve been really wanting to feel you come inside me anyway.”

Even stared at him gaping for long enough that Isak was started to get embarrassed, getting ready to backtrack if Even thought that was weird, but the sound he made next made it clear that wasn’t the case.

“Fuck, that’s so hot, you’re perfect Isak.” He kissed him hotly before pulling back just hard enough to speak. “I’m clean too, so if it’s okay with you…”

Isak nodded frantically. “Get in me, now. Please.”

Not wasting any more time, Even spun him around, grabbing his hips and pulling them back so Isak had to put his hands out against the tree to support himself, arching his back. He wiggled his ass back against Even while he slicked himself up with spit, then let out a long and low moan as Even pushed into him in one long, unrelenting stroke, until he was fully seated back against Even’s hipbones.

It felt unbelievably good, as always, Even’s thick length stretching him deliciously, filling him up perfectly.

“You feel amazing,” Even whispered hot in his ear, making him shiver and goosebumps crawl up his neck. Instead of replying, he bucked his hips back against Even, trying to get him to move. Rather than waiting, he just started bouncing himself back on Even’s cock, taking what he needed and throwing his head back on a moan at the sweet friction inside of him.

After a minute, Even suddenly wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him back against his chest roughly and plastering their bodies together as he started pounding into him. Isak held back his moans as well as he could, muffling them in his arm, still afraid his friends would hear them again. Even leaned back, his hands sliding down to take Isak’s hips in an iron grip so he had better leverage to fuck him, pulling almost all the way out each time before thrusting back in hard. Isak was practically drowning in pleasure, mouth hanging open and little noises being punched out of him each time Even bottomed out. His fingers curled into the slightly damp bark, breaking off little pieces of it, and he bit his lip hard enough to leave a puffy bruise.

“So tight for me, fuck,” Even panted, and Isak whimpered in response, pushing back to meet his thrusts.

“Even,” he moaned, just to say his name.

He was in heaven, going delirious with pleasure, almost overwhelmed with the sensations around him, the heady passion of this that felt different from their other encounters. He could tell Even’s fingers were going to leave bruises on his hips, and he would cherish them, run his fingers over them again and again until they faded, then beg him to make more. Just when he was starting to lose it, his breath coming in sharp pants, little high-pitched squeaks forced out of him, Even shifted, bending forward slightly so his chest was to Isak’s back and sliding his hands from Isak’s hips forward so they were pressing into his lower stomach, holding him close.

The change in angle suddenly had Even directly targeting his spot and he was seeing stars, forgetting completely about his earlier efforts to hold back and keep quiet and just moaning out a litany of Even’s name and various profanities, all melding together into some incomprehensible expression of _yes, please, more_. In combination with that, where Even’s hands were placed now, pressing deep into the soft flesh there, when he moved his fingers Isak felt Even’s cock fucking so deep inside of him that he could faintly feel it through his belly against Even’s hand. That was the last straw for him, and he came with a shout, all of his muscles convulsing, and it was only Even’s firm grip that kept him upright.

Even finished a minute later, which went by in a blur for Isak, unable to keep up with what was happening as he came down. What he didn’t miss, however, was the feeling of Even spilling inside of him, making him shiver and whimper one last time. When Even pulled out gingerly, he could feel his come starting to leak out, dripping down the insides of his thighs. He couldn’t wait to feel it for the rest of the day, to know that there was still some of Even inside him.

Even was panting behind him, wrapping his arms around his torso in a sweaty hug while he kissed along his shoulder.

“I can’t believe I get to do this with you,” he whispered, not letting go just yet, just standing there.

They both groaned when they decided they really did have to go get the firewood so that their friends didn’t freeze and starve, and Isak grimaced as he pulled his clothes back on over his hypersensitive skin. He yawned, glaring when Even giggled.

“Listen, you know I get sleepy after sex!”

Even just pinched his cheek and walked off, leaving Isak to scramble after him.

It was their last night. The fact loomed large in Isak’s head, and contributed to his unusual quietness as he and Even lay in their tent, gazing up at the stars. He didn’t want to say anything about it, didn’t feel like he could address it directly for some reason. He just wasn’t sure if he was supposed to. Even after all the clearing-up they had done, after everything Even had assured him of, he felt a little insecure about where they stood. He didn’t know if it was okay for him to feel sad that their little adventure would soon be over, if Even would want to try to navigate being together while being apart or if it was expected that this would all just end and be left behind once they returned to civilization.

So instead, he didn’t really say anything at all. Just lay there, head resting on Even’s chest, two bodies warming each other in the chill of the night, two pairs of eyes scanning the sky, thinking things their voices didn’t share. Even’s breath was steady, slow and quiet, and eventually, the rise and fall of his chest lulled Isak to sleep.

In the morning, Even wasn’t there when Isak woke up, and his heart clenched. It stayed that way, thoughts jumping to how this may have been his last chance to wake up next to Even, only releasing when the tent flap unzipped and Even crawled in just a few moments later.

He kept his coat on, breath coming out in a white puff against the morning air, not yet warmed by the sun. Autumn was clearly grumbling towards them, faster than Isak wanted it to accept.

Even threw himself down next to Isak, shuffling up against him and pulling him into his arms, making Isak shiver and giggle despite his initial sour mood at waking when his cold cheek nudged itself into the space against Isak’s warm, comfy neck. He elbowed at Even behind him, but only halfheartedly, relaxing into his hold, happy to let him siphon off some of his warmth.

“G’back to sleep,” Even slurred against his skin, almost pouting. “Just a few more minutes.”

Isak sighed and smiled, but he didn’t sleep.

“I feel like we should be doing some kind of ceremony or something,” Magnus said, rattling on about something Isak wasn’t following whatsoever, as usual.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Mahdi asked while he stomped at the remaining embers of their breakfast campfire, making sure it was completely out.

“Well like, it’s our last time doing this whole ritual together, taking all the shit apart. Feels like a _moment_.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling so sentimental, Magnus,” Eva said through a grunt as she hoisted up their bag of kitchenware, “but while you’re at it could you, like, help?”

Before they left, Isak patted his pockets out of habit, even though he hadn’t carried his keys or phone in his pants in days. Everything he needed was in the pack on his back, a fact that was unfortunately reflected in its heaviness. He scanned the empty area they left behind as they prepared to leave their last campsite. If he didn’t know better, he wouldn’t even have been able to tell they were ever here. Which was good, he knew – leave no trace and all that – but it felt strange, kind of sad. That there would be nothing leftover of this experience to say ‘I was here, this happened’ other than his own memories. As much as he had grumbled and complained and sweat over the last few days, he found himself reluctant to leave it behind.

That feeling was compounded, of course, by the fact that the pristine wilderness wasn’t the only thing he was thinking about having to leave behind.

Over the course of the day’s trek, his anxiety only grew. It felt like every footstep he took was bringing him closer to a goodbye that he didn’t want to have. It was weighing heavy on his mind, and he knew the others could tell.

If this were normal life, and he could sit around the kitchen table with beers and his friends, or share a kebab with Jonas, he would consult them about what he was feeling, try to get their advice. But since there weren’t exactly any private rooms in the mountains, and since the subject of his feelings was no more than a few meters away from them at all times, he was left to overthink himself into a spiral.

He stared down at his feet as he followed the tracks in front of him mechanically, hands grasping the straps of his pack, frowning at the dirt.

The thing was, he already _knew_ what their advice would be, anyway. It just wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He had to be an adult, have a conversation with Even about this, _communication blah blah blah_. He rolled his eyes at imaginary Jonas and Eva.

Sure, they needed to talk. Probably should have done it sooner. But Isak was afraid of what that talk would bring. If he was being truly honest with himself, he’d already gotten attached to what he’d had for just the past couple of days. He knew, now, what it felt like to have someone, someone who made him smile when he was grumpy, who kissed him like he was precious, whose arms made a dark night less scary, and he didn’t want to go back to his lonely, affection-starved life.

He also knew, though, that realistically, there were some serious obstacles in the way of having that – at least, having it with Even. And that was assuming Even was even on the same page as him. What if he hadn’t meant it when he said he wanted to actually have something with Isak, was just trying not to let him down? Isak really, really didn’t want that to be the case. And when Even would turn back and catch his eye, raising his eyebrows questioningly, cocking his head as if to ask ‘_are you okay?_’ it was hard for him to believe it was.

The air was still today, quiet, a contrast from the wind that had been their frequent companion, almost like it was giving Isak a break, room to think. He certainly needed it.

The final stretch of their hike was shorter than most of the other days, just getting them back over the mountain overpass and across the short distance from there to the park headquarters where they’d started. It was bittersweet, taking a last glance over his shoulder at the valley back behind him. He noticed that it had changed even in just the few days they’d been there, now more widely blanketed with tones of orange and gold as the seasons marched steadily onwards. He stood for a moment and let it sink in, willing him not to forget this – the sight, the sounds, the feeling of breathing in fresh, clean air, so crisp it almost stung his lungs.

Isak wasn’t the only one who was quiet during their final descent down the other side of the mountain, the whole group of them uncharacteristically subdued. Perhaps they were all feeling the conflicting emotions of finishing an adventure – the longing for a shower and a warm, soft bed, but the sadness of leaving the experience behind.

Finally, the log-cabin sides of the Femundsmarka National Park visitor’s center came into view through the trees, and they seemed to let out a collective sigh. As they approached, they all exchanged glances, and they must have come to some silent agreement because Jonas, Eva, Mahdi, and Magnus continued straight into the building, leaving Even and Isak hanging back outside.

They slowed to a stop beside each other. Isak could feel Even’s eyes on him but he didn’t want to look, ignoring the magnetic pull to stare at his feet and kick at the dirt and pebbles beneath them. He knew he was being a bit childish, but Even just let him, standing next to him in patient silence, not pushing or prodding.

Steeling himself, Isak took a deep breath and lifted his head, letting his eyes find Even’s like they seemed to be constantly drawn to do.

“So,” he said.

“So,” Even agreed.

Whatever fear, justified or not, that he’d been feeling melted away as he realized just who it was he was talking to. This was _Even_, Even with the kind eyes and warm smile and calming demeanor. Even wasn’t going to hurt him, toss him aside or pretend this had never happened.

Even still seemed to be waiting for Isak to speak, to make the first move in the conversation they were going to have to have. His expression was open, lacking in any expectations or pressure, and it allowed Isak to relax and finally say what he wanted to.

“I don’t want this to end here. I know it doesn’t really make sense because I live four hours away and you’re in the middle of the wilderness without a cell signal most of the time, and I don’t know if you feel the same way, but I just…I don’t want to say goodbye.”

He held his breath after he got it all out, wanting to close his eyes, but he forced himself to keep Even’s gaze. He was rewarded by the sight of Even’s face breaking into a wide smile, eyes almost crinkling shut before he stepped forward into Isak’s space, cupping his face in his hands.

“Of course I feel the same way,” he said, eyes searching Isak’s face. “I told you from the beginning, I don’t want this to be just a one-time thing.” He leaned in and kissed Isak in what was supposed to be a peck but ended up much too soft, too lingering and sweet to do anything but make Isak melt.

“You’re a special one, Isak,” he murmured when he pulled back, just far enough that he lips were brushing Isak’s cheek. “I’m not letting you get away.”

“Oh,” Isak breathed, blushing and smiling and one single romantic gesture away from just giving up and swooning. His heart felt so full, it was an actual sensation, like a balloon in his chest, tickling at his ribs and making a giggle bubble its way up his throat.

“So, how are we going to do this, then?” Isak asked, already feeling a little pained at the prospect of Even being hours away, only seeing him occasionally.

Even leaned his forehead against Isak’s and cleared his throat. “I, uh…I don’t want to seem like I’m getting ahead of myself here, but I’ve actually been thinking about coming back to Oslo for a while. This job has been great for me but for the past year I’ve been having this itch to get back into film.”

Even paused, and Isak let him, just nodding. He tried not to get his hopes up, not to let any expectations show on his face that might make Even feel pressured.

“I actually applied to go back to UiO in my same program earlier this year, and…I found out a few weeks ago that I got accepted, and with a really great scholarship.”

He stopped again and looked up, meeting Isak’s eye and biting his lip. “I’ve been going back and forth, trying to decide whether or not I want to do it, and…I think I do. I think it’s time.”

Isak blinked, somewhat disbelieving that the stars seemed to be aligning so much in his favor.

“So you’re gonna live in Oslo?”

Even nodded. “I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything, like you’re the reason I’m making this major life change,” he hurried to assure him. “I really do think it’s what’s best for me. It’s just…I also wouldn’t mind not being a three hour drive away from you.” He shrugged, “Maybe this was the push I needed. Maybe you’re some kind of angel sent to nudge me in the right direction,” he finished with a wink.

Isak rolled his eyes, and Even rubbed a thumb over his cheek.

“Your eye rolling is adorable, you know that?”

Instead of responding, Isak just tilted his head up for a kiss, which Even gave him. At some point in their conversation their hands had wound their way together, now held between their chests, warming each other.

“Now what do you say we get inside and have some hot cocoa, huh? It’s freezing as fuck out here.”

On the drive home a couple of hours later, when they had finally gotten on the road after plentiful procrastination from Isak and even more plentiful complaining and groaning at him and Even to “get a room, this is gross” and “stop hugging already, at this rate we won’t get back to Oslo before the semester starts,” Isak was finding himself in very different spirits than he had been the last time he was in this car.

Instead of being grumpy and annoyed by his friends’ antics, he felt like he was floating on a happy cloud and nothing they did could touch him. He missed Even already, and he knew it was going to suck being long-distance until Even got everything together to move. But it was worth it.

Now, rather than being lonely, he knew there was someone thinking of him, waiting for him. He smiled to himself when his phone buzzed, turning it over in his lap and glancing down to read the text.

**Even**

_I forgot to give you an extra nose kiss before you left :(_

_Guess you’ll just have to come back_

_I asked Jonas to turn the car around and he ignored me :(_

_Guess you’ll just have to hop on a moose and chase after me_

_Hurry up ;)_


	7. Epilogue

_Two months later_

Isak glanced at the clock.

He should really stop doing that every 30 seconds, but he couldn’t help himself.

It was 11:28. Not much time left now.

He wandered around the small apartment aimlessly, looking around for things to straighten, pillows to fluff, wondering to himself for the thousandth time if there was something else he should have done to make it more homey, more welcoming. He’d only been living in it for about a month and, as Eskild liked to say, he had “the interior design skills of a teenaged baboon,” so he’d really put in an effort to make the space feel like more than a functional, barren place to live in.

It had been a long two months of making occasional weekend drives out to Femundsmarka, not nearly frequently enough. It felt almost like he hadn’t seen Even since the end of their camping trip, even though he knew it had technically only been a couple of weeks. It was hard, being together so infrequently; both of them had tired of it quickly, and whatever time they did have together was never enough. It still made Isak’s heart clench a little to think of all the goodbyes and how much they had hurt every time.

But this wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. This was the time he’d been waiting for. The butterflies in his stomach were fluttering madly, and he couldn’t settle down.

Maybe it was a little crazy, what they were doing. Some people had certainly said so. They’d only been together for a little over two months, and of that time they had spent a minimal amount actually in each other’s physical presence. But it didn’t matter. Isak just knew.

Being with Even just felt so…_right_. Somehow, hearing Even’s voice on the phone, or seeing his face when they facetimed…it just felt like home. And now it really would be.

It hadn’t been the plan, at first. They were going to take it slow, play it safe. Isak got an apartment near the university and waited anxiously as Even sorted out everything to move to Oslo and start his program. But then when Even’s plans to room with his old friend Mikael fell through last minute, Isak suggested that Even could move in with him before he could talk himself out of it.

He still couldn’t really believe they were actually doing it. After stealing every moment he could, texting Even under his desk during his lectures, talking to him on the phone while eating lunch at the cafeteria, he was suddenly going to get to wake up to Even’s face every single morning. It felt too good to be true.

Isak was nothing if not a realist, so he was under no impression that it was going to be all champagne and roses all the time. They were taking a risk, living together with such a young relationship, but Isak was willing to put in whatever work it took. Even was worth it, he just knew it.

Isak forced himself to sit down on the couch, sipping on his glass of water just for something to do. When his phone dinged, he nearly jumped out of his skin, scrambling to get it out of his back pocket.

The screen lit up, and Isak’s face fell when he saw that it was just Eva, asking if Even was there yet. He frowned, about to text her back that no, he was not, so could she please refrain from texting him and giving him a heart attack, when he was startled for the second time by the loud ring of the doorbell.

He shot up, phone clattering to the floor. Staring at the front door, he stood frozen for a moment while his heart pounded in his chest. Almost like they were acting of their own accord, his feet moved him to the door, and his hand grasped the doorknob.

When he pulled it open, his heart leapt into his throat at the sight of Even standing there, backpack slung over one shoulder, nestled in several layers of hoodies and jackets. His blue eyes were wide, and he looked a little insecure, almost nervous, but that all melted away when Isak smiled at him.

“Hi,” he breathed.

“Hi,” Even smirked back, before Isak launched at him, throwing his arms around him in a tight hug.

Even dropped his bag, hugging him right back, so tight it was almost painful, lifting him up in the air for a moment before setting him down.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Isak whispered into Even’s shoulder, taking a deep breath of his scent.

“I know baby,” Even replied, stroking his fingers through his hair.

After a long while, they pulled apart, just far enough so that Isak could wind an arm under Even’s coat and wrap it around his waist while he turned to face their new home.

“So, what do you think of the apartment?” he asked. “I know it’s not much, and I’m not really one for decorating, but it’s pretty cozy and I think you’ll like the lighting, especially in the mornings, and…”

Even shut up his nervous rambling with a solid kiss, his lips splitting into a smile in the middle of it.

“It’s perfect, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to be living here with you.”

“Oh. Okay, cool.” Isak was smiling up at him in a daze.

They were lying sprawled on top of the bed after having dragged Even’s luggage inside, giving themselves a well-deserved rest on the soft mattress.

“What should we do first?” Isak wondered, eyes starting to flutter closed at the feeling of Even playing with his hair.

Even hummed, thinking. “I think we should go grocery shopping together, then we come back and you let me cook you dinner, since a little bird told me you’re a nightmare in the kitchen.”

Isak scoffed. “What!? Who said that? Was it Jonas? I’ll have you know I am the master of cooking! I just…choose not to do it most of the time.”

Even chuckled, kissing his cheek placatingly. “I’m sure you are. But you deserve a good, hot, home-cooked meal. Let me make you one.”

“Well, I guess I can do that.”

For a while, they just kissed, unable to make themselves get up and step out of their little bubble and into the outside world. Every once in a while, one of them would just burst into giggles; the realization that they weren’t going to be hours apart from each other hitting them over and over. To Isak, Even seemed like a miracle. His gorgeous eyes just inches away, his eyelashes ticking his cheeks, his lips which kept fluttering kisses all over Isak’s face.

“Okay, I guess we should go if you’re going to impress me with a gourmet meal,” Isak said while Even was holding him to his chest.

“Mmmm, five more minutes,” he groaned, tightening his grip.

“Okay. Five more minutes.”

It was four hours later when they woke up, having accidentally fallen asleep in each other’s arms, and the complicated gourmet meal Even had aspired to turned into pizza delivered and eaten on the couch in their pajamas, and it was absolutely perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that's it! Now I have no excuse not to work on my next WIP :) Thanks again to everyone for reading and commenting!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


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